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Mrs.  JOSEPH  RUDD  Greenwood 

21    EAST   82ND   STREET 
NEW  YORK  CITY 


EDITION  LIMITED  TO  ONE  HUNDRED 
COPIES,  OF  WHICH  THIS  IS 

NUMBER 


a 


THE  REVOLUTIONARY 
SERVICES  OF 

JOHN    GREENWOOD 

OF  BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 

I775-I783 


THE  REVOLUTIONARY 
SERVICES  OF 

JOHN    GREENWOOD 

OF  BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 

1775-1783 

edited  from  the  Original  <:yK{anuscript 


WITH  NOTES  BY  HIS  GRANDSON 

ISAAC  J.  GREENWOOD 


NEW   YORK 
1922 


Copyright,   1923,  by 
Joseph  R.  Greenwood 


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0.'V\A3c-'~) 


NOTE 

This  record  of  the  Revolutionary  services  of  John  Green- 
wood, of  which  his  grandson,  Isaac  John  Greenwood,  is 
the  editor  and  annotator,  was  ready  for  the  press  at  the 
time  of  the  latter's  death.  Publication  has  been  delayed, 
first  by  the  production  of  another  book  giving  the  Revolu- 
tionary record  of  Captain  John  Manley,  of  which  Mr. 
Greenwood  was  the  author,  and  later  by  the  entry  of  the 
United  States  into  the  World  War,  which  directed  all 
energies  to  matters  of  immediate  concern.  This  limited 
edition  is  now  published  in  accordance  with  the  editor's 
wishes,  and  it  is  peculiarly  fitting  that  this  simple  record 
of  a  gentleman's  services  in  America's  first  war  should 
appear  just  after  the  country  has  emerged  victorious  from 
the  greatest  war  the  world  has  ever  known. 

J.  R.  G. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


Introduction   xv 

Chapter  I 

His  youth  ;  enlistment  in  Captain  Theodore  T. 
Bliss's  (Boston)  company  as  a  fifer;  company 
joined  to  Colonel  J.  Patterson's  Massachusetts 
regiment;  battle  of  Bunker  Hill;  his  mother 
permitted  to  return  to  Boston 3 

Chapter  H 

Siege  and  evacuation  of  Boston  ;  regiment  ordered 
to  Canada;  part  taken  prisoners  at  the  Cedars; 
General  Arnold  signs  a  cartel  and  gives  host- 
ages to  the  enemy 20 

Chapter  HI 

Retreat  from  Canada  to  Ticonderoga;  regiment 
joins  General  Washington  in  New  Jersey;  battle 
of  Trenton  ;  Greenwood  leaves  the  army 34 

Chapter  IV 
Sails  with  Captain  Manley  in  the  Cumberland; 

A  PRISONER  IN  THE  BaRBADOES  ;  RELEASE  AND  RETURN 
HOME 48 

Chapter  V 

Sails  with  Captain  D.  Porter  in  the  Tartar;  many 
prizes  taken;  vessel  sinks  at  Port-au-Prince; 
returns  in  the  General  Lincoln,  Captain  J. 
Carnes;  is  captured  and  taken  to  New  York; 
eludes  imprisonment  and  again  reaches  Boston.  .     63 


CONTENTS— Continued 

PAGE 

Chapter  VI 
Again  sails  with  Captain  Porter,  on  the  Aurora, 

AND     LATER     ON      THE     RaCE    H  ORSE,     CaPTAIN      N. 

Thayer;  carries  a  prize  brig  into  Tobago;  buys 
A  schooner,  trades  on  the  Chesapeake,  and  is 

TAKEN  BY  JOE  WaLEN's  GALLEY  ReVENGE;  RECOVERS 
HIS  SCHOONER  AND  REACHES  BALTIMORE  WITH  THE 
PRIZE-CREW    72 

Chapter  VII 

Makes  two  voyages  to  Saint  Ehstatius  in  the 
Baltimore  armed  schooner  Resolution  ,  on 
second  trip,  when  captain,  is  taken  by  the  frigate 
Santa  Margaretta ;  prisoner  the  fourth  time  at 
Kingston,  Jamaica  ;  hostilities  ceasing,  he  reaches 
New  York  on  an  English  cutter  and  thence  re- 
turns HOME   84 


ILLUSTRATIVE  NOTES 

1  The    North    Writing    School,    Boston,    and 

master,  John  Tileston 91 

2  William  H.  Montague,  of  Boston  ;  a  talk  in 

1847   WITH   Dr.  W.   p.   Greenwood  and  Mr. 
Isaac  Cazneau 92 

3  Samuel   Maverick;   a    victim   of    the    Boston 

Massacre 93 

4  Captain    Martin  Gay    of    the    Ancient    and 

Honorable   Artillery,   and  of   the    Boston 
Artillery  Company 93 

5  Lieutenant    John    Greenwood    of    Falmouth 

(now  Portland),  Maine 94 

6  The    attack    on    Falmouth,    Maine,    by    the 

Canso 95 

7  Corporal  Hardy  Pierce,  of  Captain  T.  T.  Bliss's 

company;  afterward  lieutenant  of  Captain 

E.  Stevens's  artillery  company 96 

8  Rev.  Winwood   Serjeant,  of  Christ   Church, 

Cambridge,     Massachusetts,    afterward    of 
Bristol,  England 96 


CONTENTS— Continued 

PAGE 

9     Elizabeth  (Clarke)  Hale,  of  Beverly,  widow 

OF  Colonel  Robert  Hale 97 

ID  Mary  (Fans)  Greenwood,  of  Boston  (with 
portrait)  ;  her  brother-in-law,  Colonel 
Thomas  Walker,  of  Montreal  and  Boston  . .     97 

11  General  Ward's  reserve  forces,  June  17,  1775, 

TIME  OF  the  Bunker  Hill  fight 98 

12  Colonel  John  Patterson,  of  Lenox,  Massachu- 

setts        99 

13  Captain  Theodore  Thomas  Bliss,  of  Boston.  . .    100 

14  Position    of   Patterson's  regiment   after   the 

BATTLE,  etc IO5 

15  Isaac  Greenwood,  of  Boston;  extract  from  his 

"Revolutionary  Memoir"    io6 

16  Lieutenant-Colonel  George  Clark's    (of  the 

43D  Regiment  of   Foot)    foraging   party  on 
Lechmere's  Point,  and  its  repulse 112 

17  Sniping  with  powder  from  the  British  shells.  .    113 

18  Draft  from  Patterson's  regiment  for  Colonel 

Arnold's  expedition  113 

19  Houses    left    in   Charlestown    fired    by   the 

Americans 114 

20  Troops  sent  to  New  York;  regiments  ordered 

TO  Canada 115 

21  Change  of  Command  in  Canada 116 

22  Americans  fall  into  an  ambuscade  planned  by 

Captain  George  Forster  and  Brant 118 

23  Colonel  Henry  Sherburne,  of  Newport,  Rhode 

Island,  former  major  of  Colonel  Patterson's 
(Massachusetts)  regiment 120 

24  Arnold's  retreat  from  Montreal 124 

25  Regiments  ordered  to  join  Washington 125 

26  Battle  of  Trenton 125 

27  Captain  John  Manley's  flag  on  the  Cumber- 

land PRIVATEER 1 26 

28  The    Cumberland  captured   by  the   Pomona 

FRIGATE    127 

29  Thomas  Pratt,  of  Chelsea,  Massachusetts,  a 

survivor  of  the  cumberland,  l8l  i 1 28 

30  Favorite  songs  of  John  Greenwood 128 

31  Captain  David  Porter,  of  Boston,  privateers- 

man,  father  of  Commander  D.  Porter,  U.S.N.  130 

32  Prizes  of  Captain  D,  Porter 130 


CONTENTS— Continued 


PAGE 


33  Captain  John  (or  Jonathan)  Carnes,  of  Salem, 

privateersman    13^ 

34  David  Sproat,  commissary  for  naval  prisoners 

IN  New  York 132 

35  Edward  Watkeys,  soap  and  candle  maker,  New 

York 132 

36  Captain    Nathaniel    Thayer,    of    the    Race 

Horse,  privateer 133 

37  Movements  of  Cornwallis  and  Washington  in 

Virginia 1 33 

38  Joseph  Whayland,  Jr.,  a  British  privateersman 

on  the  Chesapeake;  Lord  Dunmore's  former 
pilot   133 

39  Armed   schooner   Resolution,  former   tender 

OF  THE  Maryland  state  ship  Defence,  Cap- 
tain James  Nicholson 137 

40  British  frigate  Santa  Margaretta,    Captain 

E,  Salter 138 

41  Henry  Nicholls,  captain  of  the  English  cutter 

Barracouta,  fourteen  guns;  afterward  com- 
manded the  Royal  Sovereign,  no  guns 138 

42  Later  voyages   and   events   in    life    of    John 

Greenwood   139 

Appendix  A 

Colonel    John    Patterson's    Massachusetts    regi- 
ment ;  ITS  field,  staff,  and  commissioned  officers, 

1775   AND   1776 142 

Appendix  B 

Colonel    Thomas    Walker,    of    Montreal     and 
Boston;  his  children  and  grandchildren 151 


C™] 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

John  Greenwood,  about  1795,  after  portrait  by  William 

L(OVett Frontispiece 

Facing  page 

House  of  Lieutenant  John  Greenwood  on  Middle  Street, 
Falmouth  (Portland),  Maine,  1770-1856 6 

Facsimile  from  the  "Revolutionary  Memoir" 50 

Mrs.  Mary  (Fans)  Greenwood,  of  Boston,  mother  of 
John,  after  portrait  by  William  Lovett 97 

No.  199  Water  Street,  northeast  corner  of  Wall  Street, 
where  John  Greenwood  first  lived  in  New  York,  in  1873.   139 

Colonel  Thomas  Walker's  house  on  Notre  Dame  Street, 
Montreal,  1720-1890,  where  the  Congressional  Com- 
missioners lived 151 


INTRODUCTION 

The  following  record  of  events,  written  by  John 
Greenwood  during  the  year  1809,  at  such  leisure  mo- 
ments as  the  arduous  duties  of  a  professional  life  per- 
mitted, presents  in  plain  and  simple  style,  but  bright 
and  clear  as  when  first  impressed  upon  the  brain  of 
youth,  the  varied  scenes  which  he  had  beheld,  and  the 
hardships  which  he  had  encountered,  in  the  service  of 
his  country  throughout  the  War  of  the  Revolution. 
Twenty-five  to  thirty-five  years  had  passed  since  their 
occurrence,  yet  though  in  his  statements  he  depended 
wholly  upon  memory,  there  is  scarce  an  incident  re- 
lated which  the  annotator,  in  the  course  of  an  exten- 
sive historical  reading,  has  not  found  corroborated. 
Precise  dates  alone  appear  to  have  been  forgotten, 
and  these,  so  far  as  possible,  are  now  supplied.  If 
the  notes  introduced  add  but  little  to  the  text,  it  is 
hoped  that  they  may  prove  of  some  value  to  the  student 
of  history. 

As  a  voucher  for  the  truth  of  whatever  pertains  to 
Colonel  Patterson's  regiment,  there  was  formerly 
attached  to  the  original  manuscript  an  autograph  letter 
of  Major  Henry  Sherburne,  but  repeated  search  among 
family  papers  has  failed  to  bring  the  document  to  light. 
All  we  know  about  it  is  from  a  penciled  memorandum 
on  the  cover  by  John  Greenwood  himself,  which  reads 
as  follows:  "Col.  Sherburne,  who  wrote  the  introduc- 
tory letter,  was  Treasurer  of  the  State  of  Rhode  Island ; 
he  is  now  living,  Sept.,  18 10." 


Much  of  stirring  adventure  was  undoubtedly  left 
unrecounted,  and  his  son,  Dr.  I.  J.  Greenwood,  often 
expressed  regret  that  he  had  not  foregone  the  pleasures 
of  youth  a  little  and,  acting  as  amanuensis,  made  record 
from  time  to  time  of  the  abundant  flow  of  humor  and 
anecdote  with  which  his  father  was  wont  to  amuse  his 
friends  and  children. 

In  the  manuscript  a  period  of  two  entire  years,  1777 
and  1778,  is  passed  over  inadvertently,  without  a  word. 
It  would  appear,  however,  that  about  the  year  1777 
Greenwood  was  engaged  in  the  codfisheries  off  the 
coast,  for  he  would  relate  how  that,  being  a  green 
hand  and  employed  in  stowing  the  fish,  he  was  advised 
to  pour  warm  tar  in  his  boots  to  protect  his  feet  from 
the  brine,  and  that  the  boots  had  to  be  worn  until  split 
off  on  his  arrival  home.  We  know  also  from  the 
Massachusetts  Revolutionary  Rolls^  that  he  was  on 
a  three  months'  service,  from  February  13,  1778,  as 
fifer  in  the  company  of  Captain  John  Hinckley's  Boston 
Light  Infantry,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Andrew  Symmes's 
Detachment  of  Guards,  on  duty  in  the  town  under 
Major-General  William  Heath  at  a  period  when  the 
forces  of  Burgoyne's  army  were  encamped,  as  prisoners, 
in  the  vicinity. 

Many  opportunities  were  enjoyed  also  by  Dr.  Green- 
wood of  meeting  persons  who,  having  known  his  father 
in  earlier  years,  could  furnish  him  with  amusing  anec- 
dotes in  connection  with  his  father's  life.  A  pleas- 
ing incident,  related  in  October,  1823,  by  an  old  lady 
whose  name  has  not  been  preserved,  seems  to  show 
that  Greenwood  was  again  called  out  on  service  during 
the  year  1778,  when  the  American  army  was  forming 
"a  cordon  about  Manhattan  Island,  from  Danbury  in 
Connecticut  to  Elizabethtown  in  New  Jersey."  Gen- 
eral Washington  had  crossed  with  his  forces  to  the 
easterly  side  of  the  Hudson  River,  and  about  July 
1  Vol.  XX,  p.  i. 

C  xvi  3 


20  his  headquarters  was  established  at  White  Plains. 
The  Independent  Company  of  Colonel  Hitchborn  and 
the  Light  Infantry  Company  of  Captain  Hinckley  set 
out  from  Boston  on  Friday,  August  7,  for  "headquar- 
ters." Unfortunately  the  Boston  correspondent  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Packet  of  August  25  does  not  indicate 
whether  he  refers  to  White  Plains,  New  York,  or 
Tiverton,  Rhode  Island. 

"Sunt  delicta  tamen,  quibus  ignovisse  velimus," 

I  give  the  story  as  I  find  it. 

The  company  to  which  Greenwood  belonged  was 
encamped  near  White  Plains  upon  the  grounds  of  a 
wealthy  Englishman,  a  neutral  who  resided  in  the 
neighborhood.  This  gentleman  on  one  occasion,  while 
out  driving  with  his  daughter  (who  tells  the  story), 
saw  our  young  fifer  sick  and  suffering  from  fever  and 
ague,  and  brought  him  to  his  own  house,  where  through 
kindness  and  woman's  care  he  soon  recovered.  The 
good-natured  boy,  always  cheerful  and  willing  to  lend 
a  hand  about  the  premises,  soon  won  the  regard  of 
every  member  of  the  family;  the  eldest  son  would  take 
him  out  for  a  drive  in  fine  weather,  and  the  old  lady 
of  the  house  never  failed  to  remember  him  when  mak- 
ing up  a  batch  of  pies. 

About  this  time  a  band  of  Skinners,  anxious  for 
plunder,  made  up  their  minds  to  burn  and  sack  the 
place,  on  the  plea  that  its  occupant,  though  professedly 
a  neutral,  was  virtually  attached  to  the  loyalist  cause. 
The  house  was  accordingly  surrounded  and  its  inmates 
called  upon  to  surrender.  The  captain  of  the  neighbor- 
ing militia  company,  informed  of  this  proceeding  but 
aware  of  the  old  gentleman's  neutrality,  was  undecided 
how  to  act,  and  determined  to  leave  it  altogether  to 
his  men.  He  therefore  paraded  them  and  ordered  all 
in  favor  of  defending  the  premises  to  raise  their  hats 
upon  their  muskets,   and   about  half  immediately  re- 

Cxvii] 


sponded  to  the  appeal.  The  rest  remaining  irresolute, 
little  John  the  fifer,  together  with  the  drummer  of  the 
company,  was  unremitting  in  his  endeavors  to  per- 
suade them,  and  soon,  every  man  feeling  convinced 
of  his  duty,  the  marauders  were  driven  off. 

While  in  the  marine  service  and  a  prisoner.  Green- 
wood received  a  severe  scald,  the  marks  of  which  he 
bore  through  life  on  one  of  his  limbs.  He  said  a 
person  named  Mumford,  carrying  a  vessel  of  soup 
one  day,  and  not  observing  him  lying  at  length  upon 
the  ground,  had  stumbled  over  his  body  and  deluged 
him  with  the  hot  and  greasy  liquid.  This  story  was 
confirmed  in  July,  1837,  by  a  gentleman  named  Mount- 
fort,  who  said  the  party  above  alluded  to  was  his 
own  father;  doubtless  Joseph  Mountfort,^  of  Boston, 
who  had  served  under  Commodore  John  Manley. 

Again,  while  in  the  West  Indies,  the  precise  time 
and  locality  not  given,  Mr.  Greenwood  on  one  oc- 
casion saw  an  aged  negro  fishing  from  the  end  of  a 
wharf  who  professed  to  have  been  a  cabin-boy  to  the 
notorious  pirate  John  Teach,  or  "Black  Beard,"  who 
was  captured  and  killed  in  November,  17 17.  Michael 
Scott,  in  his  "Tom  Cringle's  Log,"  mentions  this  char- 
acter as  still  living  in  18 12,  at  New  Providence,  aged 
about  1 10  years. 

The  earliest  incident  connected  with  John  Green- 
wood's life  is  that,  when  quite  young,  he  was  taken 
out  one  day  for  a  walk,  escorted  by  a  negro  boy  be- 
longing to  the  family;  when,  attracted  by  the  music 
and  brilliant  show  of  some  passing  soldiers,  they  fol- 
lowed along  until  the  tired  child  was  told  to  wait  awhile 
and  rest  in  a  neighboring  shop.  Oblivious  as  to  where 
he  had  left  his  charge,  the  negro  finally  returned  home 
empty-handed,  and  Johnny  had  to  be  recovered  by  the 
aid  of  the  town-crler. 

2"N.  E.  Hist.  Geneal.  Reg.,"  Vol.  XL,  p.  116.     Born  February 

3,   1750. 

C  xvlil  ] 


This  Incident  evidently  refers  to  the  landing,  on 
Saturday,  October  i,  1768,  of  some  regular  troops,-^ 
"the  Hancock  Regiments,"  as  the  people  called  them, 
which  marched  from  Long  Wharf  to  the  common  "with 
muskets  charged,  bayonets  fixed,  colours  flying,  drums 
beating,  some  of  the  drummers  being  negroes,  and 
fifes  playing."^  As  late  as  1770  Bailey's  English  Dic- 
tionary gives  the  word  "fife  or  fiffaro,  Ital.,"  as  a  pipe 
or  wind-instrument,  "used  by  the  Germans,  with  a 
drum,  in  the  army."  Grose,  however,  in  his  "Military 
Antiquities,"  1786,  says  that  fifes  were  revived  in  the 
English  army  about  1745  by  the  Duke  of  Cumberland, 
who  first  "introduced  them  into  the  Guards."  They 
were  a  novelty,  evidently,  to  the  Bostonians,  and  in 
March,  1769,  an  announcement  can  be  read  in  the  daily 
papers  of  a  musical  entertainment  in  the  Concert  Hall 
on  Queen  Street,  for  the  benefit  of  the  fife-major  of 
the  29th  Regiment.  We  may  depend  upon  it  that 
the  "Yankee  Doodle  Song"  of  Surgeon  Shuckburgh 
was  much  played  by  the  British  fifers.  It  was  stir- 
ring music  and  had  its  effect,  a  very  lasting  one,  upon 
little  John,  who,  with  indefatigable  zeal  and  persever- 
ance, as  we  learn  from  the  memoir,  was  soon  play- 
ing upon  a  fife  of  his  own,  with  a  militia  company  of 
his  fellow-townsmen,  commanded  by  Captain  Martin 
Gay,  marching  at  his  heels. 

In  the  winter  of  182 1-2  John  W.  Greenwood,  then 
a  pupil  of  Phillips  Academy,  Andover,  was  fasten- 
ing his  skates  in  the  cabin  of  an  old  gray-headed  negro 
at  the  edge  of  a  frozen  pond,  when,  glancing  up,  he 
observed  a  framed  copy  of  his  family  arms  over 
the  chimneypiece,  which,  said  old  ebony,  had  belonged 
to  his  master,  Mr.  Greenwood,  of  Boston.  Quite  likely 
he  was  the  same  house-servant  who  had  taken  such 

^  The  14th,  29th,  a  detachment  of  the  59th,  and  a  company  of 
the  Artillery  Train  with  two  cannons. 

*  Gentleman's  Magazine,  1768,  pp.  511  and  512. 


indifferent  care  of  the  boy's  father  fifty  years  pre- 
vious. 

No  relic  in  connection  with  his  services,  over  which 
the  stirring  events  which  marked  the  Revolution  might 
have  cast  a  halo,  has  come  down  to  the  present  gen- 
eration save  the  blade  of  the  sword  which  he  took, 
as  he  relates,  from  the  body  of  a  Hessian  artillery- 
man at  Trenton,  and  a  manuscript  music-book  upon 
which  he  set  great  store  as  having  been  given  him  by 
an  English  fifer.  The  tunes  are  all  English,  but  the 
water-mark^  of  the  paper  being  foreign,  I  am  led 
to  suppose  this  also  is  a  memento  of  the  battle  of 
Trenton.  Greenwood's  regiment  was  appointed  to 
guard  the  Hessian  prisoners  across  the  river,  and 
among  them  was  their  band  of  nine  musicians,  who 
participated  next  year  in  the  celebration  of  July  4 
at  Philadelphia.  The  fife  which  had  cheered  "the 
15th"  onward  through  many  a  weary  march  was 
thoughtlessly  given  away^  by  Dr.  I.  J.  Greenwood 
about  1 830,  and  has  long  since,  we  may  presume,  passed 
into  oblivion. 

A  few  words  relative  to  the  parentage  of  John  Green- 
wood may  not  be  amiss.  His  father,  Isaac  Greenwood, 
of  Boston,  resided  previously  and  for  some  time  subse- 
quent to  the  war  on  the  east  side  of  Salem  Street,  the 
garden  of  his  house  adjoining  the  Second  Episcopal,  or 
Christ,  Church.  Here  he  carried  on  the  business  of 
ivory-turning  and,  as  an  adjunct  of  the  same,  the  pro- 
fession of  dentistry,  much  after  the  manner  of  his  friend 
Paul  Revere,  the  goldsmith,'^  who  was  located  at  the 

°  Within  a  circular  band,  surmounted  by  a  crown,  and  inscribed 
"Pro  Patria  Ejusque  Libertate";  standing  erect  on  a  low  square 
pedestal,  bearing  the  word  "Vryheit,"  a  crowned  Hon  carrying 
over  his  left  shoulder  a  long  staff  surmounted  by  a  liberty-cap. 

^  To  his  agent,  Mr.  William  K.  Newton. 

"^  They  both  "learnt  the  method  from  Mr.  John  Baker,"  a 
London  surgeon  dentist  who  visited  Boston  and  New  York  in 
1768. 


head  of  Clarke's  Wharf.  To  the  above  occupations  was 
added  the  manufacture  of  "kitisols,  umbrelloes,"  and 
mathematical  instruments,  and  he  is  said  to  have  con- 
structed the  first  electrical  machine  made  for  Franklin 
in  Boston.  His  ingenuity  in  the  arrangement  of  scien- 
tific apparatus  was  probably  inherited  from  his  father, 
of  the  same  name,  who  had  filled  the  first  HoUisian  pro- 
fessorship of  mathematics  and  natural  philosophy  in 
Harvard  College,  Cambridge.  Professor  Isaac  Green- 
wood was  the  son  of  Samuel  and  Elizabeth  (Bronsdon) 
Greenwood,  and  the  grandson  of  Nathaniel,  a  young 
shipwright  who  came  to  Boston  about  1654.  The  lat- 
ter was  the  eldest  child  of  Miles  Greenwood,  worsted 
weaver  of  Norwich,  England,  and,  according  to  family 
tradition,  a  lieutenant  and  preacher  under  Oliver  Crom- 
well. Miles's  father,  also  named  Miles,  was  married 
in  1599,  in  the  church  of  St.  Peter's  of  Mancroft,  to 
Ann  Scath,  of  Barnham  Brome. 

John  Greenwood,  after  the  war,  settled  in  New  York, 
and  there  died  November  16,  18 19,  in  his  sixtieth  year. 
A  few  days  after  this  event  a  hale,  hearty  old  gentle- 
man called  at  the  family  residence.  No.  13  Park  Row, 
having  come,  he  said,  to  once  more  grasp  the  hand  of 
his  old  comrade  and  companion-in-arms  before  he  left 
this  world;  he  had  been  the  drum  major*  of  the  15th 
Massachusetts  Regiment. 

One  who  had  evidently  known  John  Greenwood  per- 
sonally writes :  "He  was  a  venerable  man  of  great  orig- 
inality and  shrewdness  of  mind  on  all  subjects,  a  great 

*  This  was  probably  Jonathan  Kinney,  of  Boston,  who  enlisted 
May  3,  1775,  as  the  drummer  of  Captain  Theo.  T.  Bliss's  com- 
pany. He  served  from  May  8  to  July  8,  1777,  as  a  matross  of 
Captain  Jonathan  Stoddort's  company,  Colonel  Th.  Craft's  ar- 
tillery regiment,  and  as  corporal,  February  3  to  May  2,  1779, 
with  the  Guards  at  and  about  Boston,  under  Major-General 
Gates,  in  Captain  Caleb  Champney's  company.  Greenwood 
alludes  to  him  under  date  of  January  8,  1776. 


reader  and  deep  thinker,  generous  and  chivalrous  in  dis- 
position, of  ready  wit  and  full  of  the  anecdote  and  lore 
of  the  past.  In  his  profession  his  expert  and  adroit 
workmanship,  bold  ingenuity  and  resources  under  all 
difficulties,  acquired  him  a  reputation  that  left  him  with- 
out a  competitor."" 

I.  J.  G. 

^  "Wealth  and  Pedigree  of  the  Citizens  of  New  York,"  1842. 
The  portraits  of  John  Greenwood  and  his  mother,  which  are 
introduced,  are  after  originals  painted  by  William  Lovett,  of  Bos- 
ton, about  1790. 


C  ^^'i  ] 


THE  REVOLUTIONARY 
SERVICES  OF 

JOHN     GREENWOOD 

OF  BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 
1775-I783 


Written  from  memory  in  New  York, 
February  14,  1809,  by  a  person  who 
was  in  the  Revolutionary  War  be- 
tween Great  Britain  and  America;  re- 
lating naught  but  facts,  so  strongly 
imprinted  upon  the  mind  as  never 
to  be  forgotten. 


CHAPTER  I 

His  youth;  enlistment  in  Captain  Theodore  T. 
Bliss's  (Boston)  company  as  a  fifer;  company 
joined  to  Colonel  J.  Patterson's  Massa- 
chusetts REGIMENT;  BATTLE  OF  BUNKER  HiLL; 
his    mother    PERMITTED    TO    RETURN    TO    BoSTON 

I  WAS  born  in  Boston,  America,  May  17,  in  the 
year  1760,  and  educated  in  the  North  School  (i) 
until  thirteen  years  of  age;  but  as  children  were 
not  at  that  time  taught  what  is  called  grammar,  or 
even  correct  spelling,  it  must  not  be  expected  to  find 
them  in  this  relation.  All  that  we  learned  was  ac- 
quired by  the  mere  dint  of  having  it  thumped  in,  for 
the  two  masters,  who  had  to  overlook  and  manage 
some  300  or  400  boys,  could  pay  little  attention  to  us 
except  so  far  as  flogging  went,  which  right  was  rather 
freely  indulged  in. 

While  I  was  at  school  the  troubles  commenced,  and 
I  recollect  very  well  of  hearing  the  superstitious  ac- 
counts which  were  circulated  around :  people  were  cer- 
tain a  war  was  about  to  take  place,  for  a  great  blazing 
comet  had  appeared  and  armies  of  soldiery  had  been 
seen  fighting  in  the  clouds  overhead;  and  it  was  said 
that  the  day  of  judgment  was  at  hand,  when  the 
moon  would  turn  into  blood  and  the  world  be  set  on 
fire.  These  dismal  stories  became  so  often  repeated 
that  the  boys  thought  nothing  of  them,   considering 

C3] 


that  such  events  must  come  in  the  course  of  nature. 
For  my  part,  all  I  wished  was  that  a  church  which 
stood  by  the  side  of  my  father's  garden  (2)  would 
fall  on  me  at  the  time  these  terrible  things  happened, 
and  crush  me  to  death  at  once,  so  as  to  be  out  of  pain 
quick. 

It  must  not  be  expected  that  I  can  give  day  or  date 
in  my  relation,  as  I  cannot  remember  them. 

I  remember  what  is  called  the  "Boston  Massacre," 
when  the  British  troops  fired  upon  the  inhabitants 
and  killed  seven^  of  them,  one  of  whom  was  my  father's 
apprentice,  a  lad  eighteen  years  of  age,  named  Samuel 
Maverick  (3).  I  was  his  bedfellow,  and  after  his 
death  I  used  to  go  to  bed  in  the  dark  on  purpose  to 
see  his  spirit,  for  I  was  so  fond  of  him  and  he  of  me 
that  I  was  sure  it  would  not  hurt  me.  The  people  of 
New  England  at  that  time  pretty  generally  believed 
in  hobgoblins  and  spirits,  that  is  the  children  at  least 
did. 

About  this  period  I  commenced  learning  to  play 
upon  the  fife,  and,  trifling  as  it  may  seem  to  mention 
the  circumstance,  it  was,  I  believe,  the  sole  cause  of 
my  travels  and  disasters.  I  was  so  fond  of  hearing  the 
fife  and  drum  played  by  the  British  that  somehow  or 
other  I  got  possession  of  an  old  split  fife,  and  having 
made  it  sound  by  puttying  up  the  crack,  learned  to  play 
several  tunes  upon  it  sufficiently  well  to  be  fifer  in  the 
militia  company  of  Captain  Gay  (4).  This  was  be- 
fore the  war  some  years,  for  I  think  I  must  have  been 
about  nine  or  ten  years  old.  The  flag  of  the  company 
was  English;  so  were  they  all  then. 

I  saw  the  tea  when  it  was  destroyed  at  Boston,  which 
began  the  disturbance,  and  likewise  beheld  several 
persons  tarred  and  feathered  and  carried  through  the 
town;  they  were  tide-waiters,  custom-house  officers — I 
think  they  called  them  informers. 

^  Three  were  killed  and  eight  wounded,  two  of  them  mortally. 

1:43 


At  the  age  of  thirteen  I  was  sent  eastward  to  a  place 
called  Falmouth  (Portland),  150  miles  from  Boston, 
to  live  with  my  father's  only  brother  (5),  whom  I  was 
named  after.  He  was  a  cabinet-maker  by  trade  but 
had  concerns  in  the  shipping  business  likewise,  and 
was  looked  upon  to  be  an  able,  or  rich,  man.  His  wife 
was  dead,  he  had  no  children,  and  I  was  his  favorite. 
The  whole  country  at  this  time  was  in  commotion  and 
nothing  was  talked  of  but  war,  liberty,  or  death;  per- 
sons of  all  descriptions  were  embodying  themselves 
into  military  companies,  and  every  old  drunken  fellow 
they  found  who  had  been  a  soldier,  or  understood  what 
is  called  the  manual  exercise,  was  employed  of  evenings 
to  drill  them.  My  uncle  was  lieutenant  of  an  inde- 
pendent company  (the  Cadets),  and  of  course  I  was 
engaged  to  play  the  fife  while  they  were  learning  to 
march,  a  pistareen  an  evening  for  my  services  keeping 
me  in  pocket-money.  Being  thus  early  thrown  into  the 
society  of  men  and  having,  as  it  were,  imbibed  the 
ardor  of  a  military  spirit;  being  moreover  the  only 
boy  who  knew  how  to  play  the  fife  in  the  place,  I  was 
much  caressed  by  them. 

I  stayed  with  my  uncle  two  years,  until  the  time 
arrived  when  we  had  an  account  that  the  British  troops 
had  marched  out  of  Boston,  attacked  the  country 
people  at  a  place  called  Lexington,  and  killed  a  number 
of  them  (6).  I  had  frequently  been  inclined  to  return 
to  Boston  that  I  might  see  my  father,  mother,  sister, 
and  brothers,  but  as  I  was  not  permitted  to  do  so,  I 
took  it  into  my  head,  saying  nothing  to  any  one  about 
it,  to  go  alone  on  foot  in  the  beginning  of  May,  1775. 
The  distance  was  150  miles  and  the  country  so  thinly 
inhabited  that  I  had  to  traverse,  at  times,  woods  seven 
miles  in  length,  and  I  had  never  traveled  before  more 
than  three  or  four  miles  by  land  into  the  country.  I 
concluded  to  set  out  on  a  Sunday,  for  then  they  would 
not  be  so  apt  to  miss  me,  and  not  having  mentioned  my 

1:53 


determination  of  going,  they  would  not  think  it  pos- 
sible so  young  a  boy  would,  without  any  manner  of 
cause,  attempt  such  a  journey.  My  reason  for  going 
was  I  wished  to  see  my  parents,  who,  I  was  afraid, 
would  all  be  killed  by  the  British,  for,  as  I  observed 
before,  nothing  was  talked  of  but  murder  and  war. 

Sunday  morning,  when  in  New  England  all  is  still 
and  no  persons  are  in  the  streets,  having  eaten  my  break- 
fast, I  took  a  handkerchief  and  tied  up  in  it  two  or 
three  shirts  and  a  pair  or  two  of  stockings,  and  with 
what  clothes  I  had  on  my  back  and  four  and  a  half 
pistareens  in  my  pocket,  jumped  over  the  fence  in  the 
back  yard  and  set  off.  I  walked  rapidly  through  the 
town  without  meeting  any  one  I  knew,  as  it  was  break- 
fast-time, and  when  once  beyond  the  outskirts,  being 
a  very  strong-constitutioned  boy,  off  I  went  with  a  light 
heart  and  a  good  pair  of  heels;  sometimes  I  ran  and 
sometimes  trotted  like  a  horse,  and  I  really  believe  I 
accomplished  forty  miles  the  first  day.  I  do  not 
recollect  that  I  was  the  least  tired  during  my  whole 
journey.  As  I  traveled  through  the  different  towns 
the  people  were  preparing  to  march  toward  Boston  to 
fight,  and  as  I  had  my  fife  with  me — yes,  and  I  was 
armed  likewise  with  my  sword — I  was  greatly  caressed 
by  them.  Stopping  at  the  taverns  where  there  was 
a  muster,  out  came  my  fife  and  I  played  them  a  tune  or 
two;  they  used  to  ask  me  where  I  came  from  and  where 
I  was  going  to,  and  when  I  told  them  I  was  going  to 
fight  for  my  country,  they  were  astonished  such  a  little 
boy,  and  alone,  should  have  such  courage.  Thus  by 
the  help  of  my  fife  I  lived,  as  it  were,  on  what  is  usually 
called  free-quarters  nearly  upon  the  entire  route. ^ 

-  On  Lexington  Day,  April  19,  1775,  Captain  William  H.  Ballard 
(later  of  Colonel  James  Frye's  regiment)  started  his  company  with 
a  few  men  in  Amesbury,  Essex  County,  Massachusetts,  and  then 
drummed  up  a  number  more,  during  the  month  of  May,  along  the 
New  Hampshire  coast.    It  does  seem  as  if  the  recruiting  sergeant 

161 


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O  15 


As  nigh  as  I  can  remember  it  took  me  four  days  and 
a  half  to  reach  Charlestown,  opposite  Boston;  but  on 
Charlestown  Neck  there  stood  a  Yankee  soldier  or 
sentry  who  stopped  me,  telling  me  that  I  must  not  go 
past  him.  I  attempted,  however,  to  get  by  him  and 
run,  when  another  fellow  caught  me  and  carried  me 
to  the  guard-house,  which  was  a  barn  standing  not  far 
off.  Here  I  was  kept  all  night,  when  they  let  me  go, 
informing  me  that  in  order  to  go  down  to  Charlestown 
ferry  a  pass  must  be  obtained  from  General  Ward,  at 
Cambridge;  but  by  no  means  would  I  be  permitted  to 
go  into  Boston  to  see  my  parents,  as  all  communica- 
tion was  cut  off  between  the  British  and  the  country 
people.  The  war  had  begun,  they  told  me ;  the  British 
had  marched  out  into  the  country  to  Lexington,  to  the 
tune  of  "Yankee  Doodle,"  but  they  had  made  them 
dance  it  back  again. 

I  immediately  set  off  for  Cambridge  after  my  pass, 
got  it,  and  traveled  back  for  Charlestown  ferry;  but 
1  was  not  allowed,  after  two  years'  absence  from  home, 
to  go  over  and  see  my  parents.  Everything  on  the 
opposite  shore  was  familiar  to  me,  and  I  was  well 
acquainted  with  the  person  who  kept  the  ferry,  Mr. 
Enoch  Hopkins,  whose  son  used  to  go  to  school  with 
me.  There  I  stood  alone,  without  a  friend  or  a  house 
to  shelter  me  for  the  night,  surrounded  by  women  and 
children,  some  crying  and  others  in  different  situations 
of  distress,  for  the  Boston  people  were  flocking  out  of 
town  over  the  ferry  in  crowds,  with  what  little  furni- 
ture they  were  permitted  to  take  with  them.  The 
British    governor,    or,    more    properly    calling    him, 

came  across  John  Greenwood  tramping  his  way  down  from  Fal- 
mouth, for  on  his  roll  was  entered:  "John  Greenwood  of  Boston, 
May  14,  Fifer,  age  16."  But,  as  John  says,  a  light  pair  of  heels 
evidently  carried  the  young  fifer  onward  to  his  destination,  and  a 
company  roll,  dated  Cambridge,  June  13,  marks  Greenwood 
"absent."     ("N.  E.  Hist.  Geneal.  Reg.,"  Vol.  LX,  p.  44.) 

1:73 


"Granny  Gage,"  gave  permission  to  the  Inhabitants, 
before  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  to  leave  the  town, 
but  placed  a  fellow  by  the  name  Cunningham**  (the  no- 
torious master  of  the  New  York  provost  during  the 
war)  at  the  ferry  stairs,  to  search  their  trunks  and 
little  bundles  and  take  from  the  women  and  children 
their  pins,  needles,  and  scissors,  in  short  anything  he 
pleased,  which,  with  his  noted  cruelty,  he  would  throw 
into  the  river  while  the  poor  helpless  creatures  were 
weeping.     O  British  magnanimity  !     Brave  fellows ! 

This,  however,  is  nothing  to  their  boasted  valor. 
They  dared  not  show  their  faces  to  us  over  their  breast- 
works after  Bunker  Hill  frolic.  They  then  found  out 
to  their  sorrow  what  kind  of  stuff  Yankees  were  made 
of;  they  lost  in  killed  and  wounded  in  that  battle  up- 
ward of  iioo  of  their  best  troops,  and  we  lost  about 
200.  The  British  had  ten  men  to  our  one,  as  history 
will  inform  you,  and  I  was  an  eye-witness. 

But  to  return :  Charlestown  was  at  the  time  gener- 
ally deserted  by  the  inhabitants,  and  the  houses  were, 
with  few  exceptions,  empty;  so,  not  knowing  what  to  do 
nor  where  to  go  and  without  a  penny  in  my  pockets, 
if  I  remember  rightly,  I  entered  a  very  large  tavern  that 
was  filled  with  all  descriptions  of  people.  Here  I  saw 
three  or  four  persons  whom  I  knew,  and,  my  fife  stick- 
ing in  the  front  of  my  coat,  they  asked  me,  after  many 
questions,  to  play  them  a  tune.  I  complied  forthwith, 
but  although  the  fife  is  somewhat  of  a  noisy  instru- 
ment to  play  upon,  it  could  hardly  be  heard  for  the  din 
and  confusion  around.  Such  a  scene  cannot  be  de- 
scribed, nor  hardly  conceived,  save  by  those  who 
have  beheld  something  similar  to  it. 

After  I  had  rattled  off  several  tunes,  there  was  one 

2  William  Cunningham,  an  Irishman,  provost  marshal  to  the 
royal  army;  executed  in  London  for  forging  a  draft  on  the  Ord- 
nance Board,  August  10,  1791,  aged  fifty-three. 


Hardy  Pierce^  who,  with  Enoch  Howard^  and  three 
or  four  others,  invited  me  to  go  up  to  Cambridge  to 
their  quarters,  as  they  called  it.  When  there  they 
tried  to  persuade  me  to  enlist  as  a  fifer,  telling  me 
that  it  was  only  for  eight  months,  and  that  I  would 
receive  eight  dollars  a  month  and  be  found  in  pro- 
visions; moreover,  they  calculated  to  quickly  drive  the 
British  from  Boston,  when  I  would  have  an  oppor-" 
tunity  of  seeing  my  parents,  I  waited  for  four  or  five 
days  to  see  if  I  could  get  into  Boston,  living  meanwhile 
in  their  quarters.  The  army  which  kept  the  British 
penned  up  in  the  city  at  the  time  was  no  better  than  a 
mob,  the  different  companies  not  being  formed  as  yet, 
that  I  could  observe,  into  regiments  or  divisions.  This 
was  in  the  latter  part  of  May,  1775.  Concluding 
finally  that  it  would  be  best  for  me,  I  enlisted  for  eight 
months**  in  the  company  of  Captain  Bliss,  which  was 
quartered  in  the  house  of  the  Episcopal  minister  (8), 
who,  with  his  family,  had  deserted  It  at  an  early  period 
of  the  disturbances  and  gone  into  Boston. 

There  we  stayed;  to  call  it  living  Is  out  of  the  ques- 
tion, for  we  had  to  sleep  in  our  clothes  upon  the  bare 
floor.  I  do  not  recollect  that  I  even  had  a  blanket,  but 
I  remember  well  the  stone  which  I  had  to  lay  my  head 
upon.     Not  more  than  two  or  three  weeks  passed  by 

*  In  1775  H.  Pierce,  of  Boston,  was  first  corporal  in  Captain 
T.  T,  Bliss's  company.     See  Note  7. 

^  E.  Howard,  of  Boston,  enlisted  May  24,  1775,  as  a  private  in 
Captain  Lemuel  Trescott's  company.  Colonel  Jonathan  Brewer's 
regiment,  time,  eight  months. 

^  On  a  muster  roll  of  Captain  Bliss's  company,  dated  August  i, 
1775>  appears  John  Greenwood's  name  with  rank  as  fifer;  time  of 
service,  two  months,  six  days;  residence,  Boston.  ("Mass.  Revol. 
Records,"  Vol.  XIV,  p.  42.)  It  also  appears  on  a  return  of  Colonel 
Patterson's  26th  Regiment  of  Foot,  dated  October  6,  1775,  on  file 
in  the  State  House,  Boston,  and  on  an  order  of  December  12, 
1775,  from  certain  members  of  Captain  Bliss's  company  to  the 
Committee  on  the  Pay-table  at  Watertown,  for  bounty-money,  in 
lieu  of  coats,  due  the  subscribers. 

1:9] 


when  I  began  to  think  if  I  had  not  some  friend  or 
relation  near  Cambridge,  and  happened  to  recollect  a 
great-aunt  (9)  then  living  in  a  town  twenty  miles  from 
the  camp.  I  procured  a  furlough  or  permit  from  my 
captain  one  morning,  to  go  and  see  her,  and  set  off 
briskly  after  breakfast,  without  a  penny  in  my  pockets. 
With  a  spirit  too  proud  to  beg  a  mouthful  to  eat  I 
traveled  onward,  and  late  in  the  afternoon  arrived 
within  a  few  miles  of  the  town,  which  is  called  Andover. 
I  was  now  so  hungry  that  I  thought  a  piece  of  live 
sheep  in  the  neighboring  field  would  be  relishable,  but 
although  so  near  the  town,  at  this  point,  strange  as  it 
may  appear — unaccountable,  improbable,  or  whatever 
else  you  may  please  to  call  that  which  I  am  about  to 
relate — I  yet  assert  it  as  a  fact,  and  am  willing  to  take 
my  oath,  that  as  I  was  proceeding  onward  there  was 
a  certain  something  that  prevented  me  from  going  for- 
ward; it  seemed  to  push  me  back,  or,  as  it  were,  insist 
on  my  returning.  I  attempted  still  to  advance  but 
could  not,  yet  on  wheeling  around  to  retrace  my  foot- 
steps, I  could  do  so  without  uneasiness  and  with  pleas- 
ure; moreover  I  traveled  very  fast. 

I  proceeded  a  considerable  distance  on  my  way 
back,  as  I  walked  some  time  after  dark,  but  became  so 
fatigued  and  hungry  that  I  was  obliged  to  stop  at  a 
farm-house  to  beg  something  to  eat  and  ask  permis- 
sion to  lie  on  the  kitchen  floor  that  night.  They  gave 
me  some  mush  and  milk  and  a  blanket  to  lie  down  on, 
and  I  was  soon  sound  asleep,  but  early  the  next  morn- 
ing, before  the  people  were  stirring,  I  had  again  started 
for  Cambridge,  or  the  camp. 

At  dawn  of  day  I  heard  the  firing  of  great  guns,''^ 
which  caused  me  to  quicken  my  pace,  for  I  supposed  the 
armies  were  engaged  and,  being  enlisted,  I  thought  it 
was  my  duty  to  be  there.     By  ten  o'clock  I  had  reached 

'  The  Lively,  Captain  Thomas  Bishop,  opened  fire  upon  the 
American  works  at  daybreak. 


Cambridge  common,  where  I  met  a  man  whom  I  knew, 
by  the  name  of  Michael  Grout,  who  informed  me  that 
my  mother,  who  had  come  over  the  day  before  from 
Boston,  was  in  his  house,  where  he  had  left  her  only 
a  few  minutes  before.  His  house,  he  told  me,  was 
just  behind  the  meeting-house.  When  I  reached  the 
house  I  had  been  directed  to  I  found  my  mother,  sur- 
rounded by  weeping  women  and  children.  She  had  no 
sooner  seen  me  than  she  exclaimed,  "Johnny,  do  get 
me  away  from  here  !"  and  appeared  no  more  frightened 
than  if  nothing  had  been  the  matter.  "Go,"  said  she, 
"up  to  Cousin  Fuller's'^  and  get  his  (riding)  chair  im- 
mediately." It  was  near  by,  so  off  I  set,  but  found 
that  Mr.  Fuller,  who  was  one  of  the  leading  char- 
acters in  the  Provincial  Congress,  had  gone  to  Water- 
town;  so  I  procured  a  horse  and  side-saddle,  but  found 
on  returning  to  the  house  where  I  had  left  my  mother 
that  she  had  gone.       ^-^  {j-' 

jl  forgot  to  mention  that  as  soon  as  my  father  heard 
I  was  among  the  rebels  he  went  to  Governor  Gage  and 
got  a  permission  for  my  mother  (lo)  to  visit  the 
American  camp,  provided  with  money  to  hire  a  man 
in  my  stead.  She  was  also  to  procure  a  permit  for  me 
to  go  into  Boston.  Accordingly  she  came  over  the 
day  before  the  attack  on  Bunker  Hill,  but  was  not  al- 
lowed to  return,  although  she  had  powerful  friends 
and  relations  among  the  rebels,  as  the  British  called 
us.  After  the  arrival,  however,  of  General  Washing- 
ton, when  she  had  been  absent  from  Boston  then  about 
six  (sic)  weeks,  she  applied  to  him  in  person.   He  con- 

^  Judge  Abraham  Fuller  was  a  member  of  the  Third  Provincial 
Congress  from  May  31  to  July  19.  As  head  of  the  committee  of 
that  body  he  took  charge  at  Concord  of  the  military  papers  and 
removed  them  safely,  so  that  they  escaped  the  hands  of  the  British 
troops.  He  left  $1000  toward  founding  an  academy  in  Newton 
(Cambridge  Village),  where  he  died,  April  20,  1794,  aged  seventy- 
four.  His  uncle,  Isaac  Fuller,  married  Hannah  Greenwood,  grand- 
daughter of  Thomas  and  Hannah  (Ward)  Greenwood. 


sented  immediately — and  that  against  the  will  of  a 
great  many  of  the  officers  and  others — to  her  return- 
ing to  my  father.  She  was  the  first  and  only  person 
who  had  permission®  to  go  into  Boston  after  the  battle 
of  Bunker  Hill.  I  did  not  see  my  mother  again  until 
she  left  the  camp,  and  meanwhile  she  had  believed  me 
dead,  as  some  person  informed  her,  a  few  days  after 
the  battle,  that  I  had  been  killed  in  the  engagement^. 

As  I  was  observing,  previous  to  this  digression,  not 
finding  my  mother  at  Mr.  Grout's  on  my  return,  and 
not  knowing  where  she  was,  I  let  the  horse  go,  saddle 
and  all,  to  find  the  way  home  the  best  way  it  could,  and 
down  I  went  toward  the  battle  to  find  the  company  I 
belonged  to,  then  about  two  miles  off.  As  I  passed 
through  Cambridge  common  I  saw  a  number  of 
wounded  who  had  been  brought  from  the  field  of  con- 
flict. Everywhere  the  greatest  terror  and  confusion 
seemed  to  prevail,  and  as  I  ran  along  the  road  leading 
to  Bunker  Hill  it  was  filled  with  chairs  and  wagons, 
bearing  the  wounded  and  dead,  while  groups  of  men 
were  employed  in  assisting  others,  not  badly  injured, 
to  walk.  Never  having  beheld  such  a  sight  before,  I 
felt  very  much  frightened,  and  would  have  given  the 
world  if  I  had  not  enlisted  as  a  soldier;  I  could  posi- 
tively feel  my  hair  stand  on  end.  Just  as  I  came  near 
the  place  a  negro  man,  wounded  in  the  back  of  his  neck, 
passed  me  and,  his  collar  being  open  and  he  not  having 
anything  on  except  his  shirt  and  trousers,  I  saw  the 
wound  quite  plainly  and  the  blood  running  down  his 
back.  I  asked  him  if  it  hurt  him  much  as  he  did  not 
seem  to  mind  it;  he  said  no,  that  he  was  only  going  to 

*  Washington  arrived  in  camp  July  2,  1775.  The  petition  of 
Daniel  Murray,  son  of  Colonel  John  Murray,  of  Rutland,  Massa- 
chusetts, that  his  sister  and  two  brothers  might  pass  into  Boston 
was  sent  by  the  commander  to  the  Massachusetts  Committee  of 
Safety  and  laid  before  the  Provincial  Congress,  which  body  was  of 
the  opinion  (July  7)  that  the  petition  ought  not  to  be  granted,  and 
referred  to  their  resolution  passed  June  24. 


get  a  plaster  put  on  it,  and  meant  to  return.  You 
cannot  conceive  what  encouragement  this  immediately 
gave  me;  I  began  to  feel  brave  and  like  a  soldier  from 
that  moment,  and  fear  never  troubled  me  afterward 
during  the  whole  war. 

As  good  luck  would  have  it  I  found  the  company  I 
belonged  to  stationed  ( 1 1 )  on  the  road  in  sight  of  the 
battle,  with  two  field-pieces,^"^  it  having  been  joined  to 
the  regiment  commanded  by  Colonel  John  Patterson 
(12)  from  Stockbridge^^  (afterward  the  12th  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  Regiment).  Captain  Bliss,(i3),  who 
had  given  me  permission  the  day  before  to  go  a  dis- 
tance of  more  than  twenty  miles,  was  astonished  to  see 
me,  and  asked  me  how  I  had  returned  so  soon.  I 
thought  I  might  as  well  appear  brave  as  not  and  make 
myself  to  be  thought  so  by  others,  so  I  told  him  that, 
having  heard  cannon  firing  early  in  the  morning,  I 
considered  it  my  duty  to  be  with  my  fellow-soldiers; 
that  I  had  run  all  the  way  back  for  that  purpose,  and 
intended  to  go  into  the  battle  to  find  them — which  I 
certainly  would  have  done,  as  big  a  coward  as  I  was  on 
setting  out  to  join  my  companions.  The  cause  of  my 
fears  then  was,  I  presume,  being  alone,  for  I  cannot 
say  that  I  ever  felt  so  afterward.  I  was  much  caressed 
by  my  captain  and  the  company,  who  regarded  me  as 
a  brave  little  fellow. 

The  British  received  such  a  warm  reception  from 
the  Americans  that  they  dared  not  advance  one  inch 
farther  from  the  spot  they  had  possession  of.     If  they 

^°  When  we  learn  that  some  privates  of  the  regiment  were  in  the 
train  and  that  Captain  Bliss  was  the  following  year  in  Colonel 
Lamb's  regiment  of  (New  York)  artillery,  it  becomes  of  interest  to 
know  whether  these  two  pieces  of  cannon  remained  with  his  com- 
pany while  attached  to  Patterson's  regiment.  On  an  adjacent  hill 
(Cobble)  Major  Gridley,  of  the  artillery,  ordered  into  action  by 
General  Ward,  halted  his  two  pieces  of  cannon;  he  was  afterward 
cashiered. 

^^  See  Appendix  A. 

Ci3] 


had  we  were  ready  at  our  station  to  give  them  another 
battle,  as  we  were  placed  there  for  that  purpose  and  to 
cover  a  retreat.  The  next  morning  we  began,  in  sight 
of  them,  at  the  distance  of  half-cannon  shot,  to  build 
a  fort  on  Prospect  Hill  (14),  and  they  likewise  began 
to  build  another  opposite  to  it. 

One  of  the  British  soldiers  was  asked,  after  the  en- 
gagement at  Bunker  Hill,  by  a  comrade  who  had  been 
in  Boston  during  the  battle,  how  it  was,  and  what  sort 
of  fellows  the  Yankees  were.  "Faith!"  replied  the 
former,  who  was  an  Irishman,  "don't  bother  me,  for 
I  can  tell  you  all  about  it  in  a  few  words — it  was 
diamond  cut  diamond — and  that's  the  whole  story, 
my  dear  honey." 

As  my  father  lived  near  the  ferry  my  brothers  (15) 
were  at  this  point  and,  the  river  being  only  half  a  mile 
wide,  saw  the  whole  battle.  The  wounded  were 
brought  over  in  the  boats  belonging  to  the  men-of-war, 
and  they  were  obliged  to  bail  the  blood  out  of  them 
like  water,  while  these  very  boats  carried  back  the 
fresh  troops  who  stood  ready  to  reinforce  those  en- 
gaged. My  brother  told  me  that  the  wives,  or  women, 
of  the  British  soldiers  were  at  the  ferry  encouraging 

them,  saying:   "D the  Yankee  rebels,  my  brave 

British  boys,  give  it  to  them!"  He  observed  likewise 
that  the  soldiers  looked  as  pale  as  death  when  they 
got  into  the  boats,  for  they  could  plainly  see  their 
brother  redcoats  mowed  down  like  grass  by  the 
Yankees,  the  whole  scene  being  directly  before  their 
eyes.  The  Americans  were  all  chiefly  marksmen,  and 
loading  their  guns  each  with  a  ball  and  five  buck-shot, 
reserved  their  fire  until  the  English  troops  had  ad- 
vanced within  pistol  range.  I  was  told  the  enemy  fell 
like  grass  when  mowed,  and  while  they  were  filling  up 
their  ranks  to  advance  again  the  Yankees  gave  them 
the  second  fire  with  the  same  effect,  two  or  three 
dropping  at  the  discharge  of  every  gun.     The  British 

Cm] 


then  began  to  fall  back  and  retreat,  and  it  was  with 
some  difficulty  their  officers  could  rally  them  to  the 
charge.  The  Yankees  stood  their  ground  and  waited 
until  they  had  advanced  within  a  hundred  feet,  when 
they  fired  again,  continuing  it  for  some  time,  about  half 
an  hour,  when  the  British  retreated  a  second  time. 
After  they  had  received  additional  troops  they  again 
pushed  forward,  but  on  being  welcomed  as  before, 
pretty  warmly,  they  were  again  obliged  to  retreat,  and 
it  was  with  very  great  difficulty  their  officers  could 
persuade  them  to  rally,  telling  them  they  must,  as 
British  valor  and  courage  were  at  stake  and  would  be 
doubted.  From  the  Boston  side  the  British  officers 
were  seen  to  drive  their  soldiers  on  to  the  charge  with 
swords  and  bayonets — this  is  a  fact  well  known  to 
many  living  witnesses  at  this  day. 

With  a  reinforcement,  for  they  were  all  the  time 
sending  troops  over  from  Boston,  they  came  on  again, 
and  the  sound  of  the  guns  firing  appeared  like  the  roll 
of  a  hundred  drums.  At  last^^  the  bayonet  went  to 
work,  and  as  the  majority  of  the  Americans,  using 
fowling-pieces,  had  no  weapons  of  this  kind,  and  as 
many  even  had  no  more  powder,  they  clubbed  their 
guns  and  knocked  the  enemy  down  with  the  butt-ends. 
But  at  last,  for  the  want  of  bayonets  and  powder,  they 
were  obliged  themselves  to  retreat  and  leave  the 
English  in  possession  of  a  dear-bought  little  piece  of 
ground. 

It  is  falsely  reported  that  the  Americans  were  in- 
trenched in  a  strong  fort;  it  was  no  such  thing.     The 

^- David  Collins,  afterward  (1804)  first  governor  of  Van  Die- 
men's  Land,  claimed  to  have  been  the  first  to  enter  the  American 
works;  he  was  then  but  nineteen  years  old,  and  died  in  1810.  In 
the  American  camp,  however,  it  was  known  that  William  Richard- 
son, a  young  lieutenant  of  the  18th,  or  Royal  Irish,  was  the  first 
person  who  mounted  the  parapets;  he  was  dangerously  wounded. 
This  circumstance  is  mentioned  by  General  Washington  in  a  letter 
of  July  27,  1775. 

[■5: 


case  is  this :  about  800  men  were  ordered  to  make  a  fort 
the  night  before  the  battle  on  a  rising  piece  of  ground 
directly  opposite  Boston.  This  was  called  Breed's 
Hill,  and  there  was  a  very  gentle  slope  down  to  the 
river,  so  that  at  the  distance  of  a  quarter-mile  from  the 
bank  one  could  easily  roll  up  a  loaded  barrow.  These 
800  men  were  without  spades  or  pickaxes,  or  at  least 
a  sufficient  number  of  them,  for  it  is  well  known  that 
the  mob  or  army  could  not  at  that  early  time  be  sup- 
plied with  these  articles,  and  I  cannot  believe  that 
there  were  more  than,  if  as  many  as,  300  tools  to  work 
with.  It  was  twelve  o'clock  at  night  before  they  com- 
menced, and,  being  persons  unaccustomed  to  such  labor, 
it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  one  half  of  them  were 
idle  and  looking  on,  while  a  great  number  were  playing 
— I  judge  by  what  I  have  seen  myself  on  similar  oc- 
casions. Well,  even  admitting  they  were  all  at 
work  hard  during  the  entire  night,  is  it  not  natural  to 
think  they  would  be  tired  by  morning?  But  you  find 
it  was  not  the  case.  They  fought  like  hell-hounds 
more  than  six  hours,  these  very  men  who,  they  say,  were 
building  this  great  fort  the  night  before.  Now  the 
fact  is  this:  there  was  nothing  that  could  with  any 
propriety  be  even  called  a  breastwork,  much  less  a 
fort.  A  little  earth  had  been  heaved  up  in  a  pile;  in 
some  places  it  was  as  high  as  a  man's  waist,  but  the 
chief  part  of  it  would  only  reach  his  knee.  It  was 
entirely  open  on  the  back,  and  was  not  half  so  good  a 
defense  as  a  common  stone  wall.  All  the  cannon  in 
it  consisted  of  two  field-pieces  of  3-pound  balls,  one  of 
which,  in  the  beginning  of  the  battle,  had  the  carriage 
shot  away  by  a  24-pound  shot  from  the  Boston  side 
at  Copp's  Hill,  while  the  other  was  of  little  use  on 
account  of  the  scarcity  of  powder. 

Toward  the  middle  of  the  engagement  the  British, 
by  firing  what  are  called  carcasses,  struck  several  houses 
in  Charlestown,  one  of  them  lodging  in  the  steeple  of 

1:163 


the  meeting-house,  and  the  town,  which  is  situated  at 
the  foot  of  Bunker,  or  Breed's,  Hill,  was  soon  in  a  light 
blaze.  The  fools  1  it  was  of  no  great  advantage  to 
them,  as  it  made  a  great  smoke  which  the  wind  blew 
directly  on  both  combatants. 

After  the  battle  little  else  was  done  by  either  party 
except  the  building  of  breastworks  and  forts,  as  the 
enemy  were  by  this  time  convinced  that  we  would  sell 
every  inch  of  ground  at  as  dear  a  rate  as  we  could. 

What  I  have  related  is  as  nigh  the  truth  as  can  be 
possibly  arrived  at. 

One  day,^^  as  I  was  standing  by  my  tent,  who  should 

i^Tuesday,  July  ii,  1775,  on  the  records  of  the  Massachusetts 
Provincial  Congress  we  find  the  following  item:  "Resolved — That 
this  Congress  has  no  objection  to  Mrs.  Mary  Greenwood  having 
a  permit  to  go  into  Boston."  No  papers  in  connection  are  on  file 
among  the  state  archives. 

In  a  letter  book  of  General  Washington,  preserved  in  the  Library 
of  Congress,  there  is  the  following  one  written  by  his  secretary: 

Sir 

I  am  directed  by  the  General  to  desire  (you) 
would  permit  the  Woman  who  is  the  Bearer  of  (this) 
to  pass  over  to  Charlestown  in  order  to  hve  Conveyance  (to) 
Boston  first  taking  proper  Precautions  that  she 
receives  no  Paper  from  any  Person  in  her  way. 
Her  name  is  Greenwood  &  her  Case  appears  by  (the) 
Petition  herewith. 

I  am  Sir 

Your  very 

Hum'  Ser^ 

J.  Reed 

Head  Quarter 

July   13th:   1775 

To  Gen'  Puttnam 

Some  words  are  lost,  as  the  edges  of  the  book  are  worn.  The 
petition  was  evidently  enclosed  in  the  original  letter  sent  to  Gen- 
eral Putnam,  whose  post  on  Prospect  Hill  was  then  the  main 
defense  against  the  enemy.  It  is  not  so  easy  to  identify  Mrs.  Green- 
wood's escort,  but  he  may  have  been  Sergeant  John  Mills,  of  one 


I  see  but  my  mother  coming  toward  me  in  company 
with  Sergeant  (afterward  Major)  Mills.  "Well, 
Johnny,"  said  she,  "I  am  going  at  last  to  see  your 
father,  thank  God!  I  hope  you  will  behave  like  a 
soldier,  and  who  knows  but  what  you  may  be  a  gen- 
eral." She  bade  me  good-by,  and  the  sergeant  who 
had  the  care  of  conducting  her  to  the  British  lines  went 
with  her  to  a  fort  on  Prospect  Hill,  or  as  the  enemy, 
believing  it  impregnable,  had  called  it.  Mount  Pisgah. 
It  was  nothing,  however,  but  a  common  dirt  fort  made 
of  ground  and  covered  with  sods  of  grass,  mounting 
about  eight  or  ten  iron  guns,  from  9-  to  i8-pounders, 
nevertheless  it  was  strong  enough  for  them.  This 
fort,  moreover,  which,  as  well  as  I  can  remember, 
might  have  held  a  thousand  men  crowded  into  it, 
was  entirely  open  in  the  rear.  We,  however,  did  not 
depend  upon  forts,  for  we  meant  to  attack  them  in 
the  roads  and  fields  if  they  did  but  venture  to  show 
themselves.  Our  sentries  were  then  so  nigh  each 
other  that  conversation  used  to  be  carried  on  between 
those  of  either  side — this  I  have  myself  seen.  On  the 
present  occasion  both  parties  were  firing  random  shot 
at  each  other  from  their  large  cannon,  but  so  little 
were  we  afraid  of  the  British  that  Sergeant  Mills  went 
with  my  mother  around  the  camp  in  order  to  show  it 
to  her.  She  told  the  American  officers,  however,  that 
she  had  rather  be  conducted  to  the  British  lines  as  soon 
as  possible,  and  asked  them  what  she  should  say  if  the 
English  asked  her  any  questions  about  them.  Their 
answer  was:  "Tell  them  we  are  ready  for  them  at  any 
time  they  choose  to  come  out  to  attack  us." 

My  mother  was  then  taken  to  the  lines  and  walked 
alone  from  the  American  to  the  British  sentry,  where- 
upon a  portion  of  the  guard  came  down  from  Bunker 

of  the  Connecticut  regiments,  who  in  June,  1775,  was  appointed 
regimental  quartermaster,  and  in  July  regimental  adjutant,  and 
two  years  later  was  captain  of  the  2d  Connecticut  Regiment. 


Hill  and  escorted  her  into  the  fort.  There  the  com- 
manding officer,  Major  Small/^  an  acquaintance  and 
friend  of  my  father,  treated  her  with  the  greatest 
politeness  (for  every  person  who  was  acquainted  with 
him  knows  he  was  a  real  gentleman)  and  waited  upon 
her  himself  to  her  residence  in  Boston,  whence  she  was 
desired  to  attend  on  Governor  Gage.  At  the  gov- 
ernor's house  she  found  a  number  of  the  first  officers, 
who,  after  asking  her  a  number  of  questions,  wished 
to  know  what  the  rebels  said.  "I  asked  them  what 
answer  I  should  give  if  you  put  such  a  question  to  me," 
she  replied,  "and  they  said,  'Tell  them  we  are  ready 
for  them  at  any  time  they  choose  to  come  out.'  "  The 
British  governor  was  very  much  obliged  to  her  for  her 
information  generally,  and  said  that  he  had  no  further 
interrogations  to  make.  For  my  part  I  presume  he 
had  not,  for  the  answer  to  the  last  question  frightened 
him  so  much  he  did  not  feel  inclined  to  ask  any  more. 

'*  Major  (later  Major-General)  John  Small  was  major  com- 
mandant of  the  84th  Foot,  or  Royal  Highland  Emigrants,  2d  Bat- 
talion, raised  in  June,  1775,  with  Governor  Gage  as  colonel.  He 
died  in  March,  1795,  aged  seventy  years,  lieutenant-governor  of 
Guernsey,     ("N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,"  Vol.  VHI,  p.  588.) 


C19: 


CHAPTER  II 

Siege  and  evacuation  of  Boston;  regiment  or- 
dered TO  Canada;  part  taken  prisoners  at 
THE  Cedars;  General  Arnold  signs  a  cartel 

AND  gives  hostages  TO  THE  ENEMY 

THE  English  were  so  penned  up  in  Boston  that 
they  could  get  no  fresh  provisions^  except  what 
they  stole  from  the  poor  unprotected  inhabi- 
tants near  the  seashore,  and  they  were  in  such  want  as 
to  be  obliged  to  risk  their  lives  and  make  daring  attacks 
even  in  the  vicinity  of  our  troops.  On  one  occasion 
(i6)  they  came  over  to  steal  some  cows  that  were 
grazing  on  a  neck  of  land  called  Lechmere's  Point, 
about  half  a  mile  from  the  encampment  of  our  regi- 
ment. Covered  by  a  sloop  or  ship-of-war  of  eighteen 
guns,  the  enemy  effected  a  landing  and  began  to  drive 
the  cows,  but  were  immediately  perceived  by  our  peo- 
ple, who  quickly  marched  down  toward  them.  A  creek 
of  water  (Willis  Creek)  ran  across  the  road  leading 
to  the  point,  the  bridge  over  which,  as  it  was  now  high 
tide,  was  covered  with  water  to  the  depth  of  a  man's 
waist.  A  party  which  was  screened  from  us  by  a  stone 
wall  had  been  sent  to  prevent  our  crossing,  but,  plung- 

1  Freneau,  in  his  "Midnight  Musings,"  1775,  assigns  these  words 
to  Governor  Gage: 

"Three  weeks,  ye  gods !  nay,  three  long  years  it  seems 
Since  roast-beef  I  have  seen,  except  in  dreams." 


ing  in,  we  were  soon  over,  and  as  quickly  made  them 
run.  Just  as  we  had  crossed  the  bridge  our  men  were 
exposed  to  the  fire  from  the  British  fort  at  Bunker  Hill, 
of  1 8-  and  24-pound  guns.  I  recollect  that  as  eight  or 
ten  of  us  were  In  a  huddle  running  up  the  hill,  a  ball 
from  a  24-pounder  struck  about  three  feet  before  me, 
driving  the  dirt  smack  In  our  faces.  We  ran  on  and 
just  got  down  so  as  to  get  a  shot  at  them  before  they 
pushed  off.  They  did  not  take  anything  with  them, 
however,  and  only  stabbed  two  or  three  cows  with 
their  bayonets.  The  night  following  we  knocked  up  a 
small  fort,  placed  four  heavy  guns  upon  It,  and  quickly 
made  the  ship-of-war  quit  her  station. 

Night  was  the  time  for  frolicking,  as  the  British  were 
constantly  sending  bombs  at  us,  and  sometimes  from 
two  to  six  at  a  time  could  be  seen  In  the  air  overhead, 
looking  like  moving  stars  In  the  heavens.  These  shells 
were  mostly  thirteen  Inches  In  diameter,  and  It  was 
astonishing  how  high  they  could  send  such  heavy 
things.  I  have  often  seen  them  strike  the  ground  when 
It  was  frozen  and  bound  up  like  a  foot-ball,  and  again, 
falling  on  marshy  land,  they  would  bury  themselves 
from  ten  to  twelve  feet  In  It,  whereupon,  the  wet  ground 
having  extinguished  the  fusee,  the  Yankees  would  dig 
them  up  to  get  the  powder  out.  On  one  occasion  a  13- 
inch  bomb  dropped  directly  opposite  the  door  of  the 
picket  guard-house  where  200  men  were  on  duty,  and 
a  lad  about  eighteen  years  old,  named  Shubael  Rament 
(17),  belonging  to  our  company,  ran  out,  knocked  the 
fusee  from  the  shell,  and  took  the  powder  out  of  It,  of 
which  I  had  some  myself  to  kill  snipe  with.  Some  of 
our  sentries  were  placed  in  very  dangerous  situations, 
much  exposed  to  the  fire  of  the  enemy,  who,  having 
plenty  of  powder  to  waste,  were  almost  constantly  at 
It.  We,  however,  became  so  accustomed  to  this  that 
nothing  was  thought  of  it,  and  for  half  a  pint  of  ani- 
seed water  one  soldier  who  was  a  little  timid  could  get 


another  to  stand  for  him  as  sentry  in  the  most  perilous 
place  ( i8). 

During  the  entire  winter  we  were  amused  in  this  way, 
nothing  material  happening.  One  night  (March  2, 
1776)  while  our  troops  were  firing  into  Boston  over 
Roxbury  Neck,  a  ball  from  a  9-pounder  struck  into  the 
British  guard-house  and  carried  off  the  legs  of  ten  men^ 
as  they  were  sitting  on  a  bench  together.  Frequently 
we  mustered  and  marched  up  to  Cambridge  Creek, 
Avith  the  idea  that  we  were  about  to  attack  and  storm 
the  British  in  Boston.  In  the  creek  were  a  number  of  flat- 
bottomed  boats,  constructed  to  carry  about  forty  men, 
and  we  used  to  put  two  of  them  together  with  a  plat- 
form between,  get  on  board,  and  see  how  we  could 
manage  them.  Here  we  had  likewise  large  floating  bat- 
teries,'' carrying  heavy  guns  and  roofed  over  like  a 
house.  With  these  we  were  to  attack  Boston — aye, 
and  should  have  done  it  if  ordered,  for  danger  we  knew 
none — and  would  certainly  have  taken  the  place  with 
such  men  as  we  had.  This  plan,  however,  was  given  up 
for  another,  viz.,  to  build  a  fort  on  Dorchester  Heights 
very  near  the  city  so  as  to  command  the  harbor.  At 
the  latter  work  we  went  (March  4)  with  about  3000 
or  4000  men,  and  having  all  the  fascines  ready  made, 
the  British  were  in  the  morning  surprised  at  beholding 
a  fort  which  would  have  so  great  a  command  over 
them. 

The  British  admiral  (Shuldham)  told  the  general 
(Howe)  that  the  place  must  be  attacked  immediately 
or  he  could  not  remain  with  his  ships  in  the  harbor. 
Accordingly  5000  or  6000  men  were  sent  off  in  boats 
to  take  the  fort,  but  such  a  storm  arose  that  they  were 

-  Frothingham's  "Siege  of  Boston,"  p.  297,  says  six  men  were 
wounded. 

^  For  an  account  and  drawing  of  these  batteries  see  Lossing's 
"Field  Book  of  the  Revolution,"  Vol.  I,  p.  575;  Heath's  "Memoirs," 
p.  29. 


obliged  to  give  up  the  design.  Had  they  succeeded  in 
landing  they  would  certainly  have  been  overpowered, 
for  it  was  a  steep  hill  and  the  Americans  had  a 
number  of  hogsheads  and  barrels  filled  with  sand  to  roll 
down^  upon  them,  and  intended  to  sally  out  of  the  fort 
upon  them  when  in  confusion,  and  they  would  have 
liked  no  better  fun. 

I  forgot  to  mention  a  piece  of  diversion,  planned  by 
old  Putnam,  which  happened  about  two  months  before 
Dorchester  Heights  were  taken  possession  of.  One 
afternoon  (January  8)  about  sundown  a  party  of  near 
fifty  men  from  our  regiment  (under  Captain  William 
Wyman  and  Lieutenant  William  Augustus  Patterson) 
were  ordered  to  march  on  an  expedition,  and,  having 
the  curiosity  to  know  where  they  were  going  and  being 
then  fife-major,  I  concluded  to  play  for  them  myself; 
accordingly  I  went,  accompanied  by  the  drum-major.^ 
We  were  marched  Into  a  field  a  short  distance  from 
the  camp  and  there  joined  by  other  parties  to  the  num- 
ber of  200  men  (19),  of  whom  some  thirty  or  forty 
were  provided  with  large  bundles  of  chips  dipped  in 
brimstone  and  turpentine.  Between  nine  and  ten  o'clock 
Putnam  ordered  us  to  march  without  the  least  noise  or 
any  music,  leading  us  down  to  an  old  causeway  belong- 
ing to  Charlestown  mills,  which  ran  directly  under 
Bunker  Hill  and  within  pistol-shot  of  the  fort.  When 
Charlestown  was  burned  about  ten  or  twelve  houses 
were  left  unconsumed,  and  these  were  now  inhabited 
by  a  parcel  of  stragglers,  such  as  sutlers,  mechanics, 
and  camp  women.  Our  men  crossed  the  causeway  (or 
mill-dam  from  Cobble  Hill),  surprised  the  different 
sentries,  took  a  number  of  prisoners,  and  set  fire  to 
these  houses  right  under  their  very  noses,  the  enemy  at 
the  fort  being  so  astonished  as  not  to  fire  for  some 

*  Suggested  by  Brigadier-General  Thomas  Mifflin,  though  Heath 
says  "a  Mr.  William  Davis  of  Boston." 
^  Jonathan  Kinney. 

1^3  1 


time,  at  least  not  until  the  houses  were  in  a  light  blaze. 
I  never  heard  that  we  lost  a  single  man. 

The  reason  for  this  frolic  being  undertaken  was  that, 
as  General  Washington  had  many  spies  in  Boston  and 
could  ascertain  everything  the  British  were  about,  he  had 
learned  that  on  the  very  evening  in  question  they  were 
about  to  enact  a  new  play  in  derision  of  the  Yankees, 
called  the  "Blockade  of  Boston,"  wherein  was  depicted 
the  supposed  ignorance  and  cowardice  of  our  soldiers, 
— for  you  know  they  are  good  hands  at  running  down 
all  nations  save  themselves.  Just  as  the  play  was  at 
its  height  and  as  one  of  the  actors  was  representing  a 
Yankee  sentinel,  rigged  out  like  a  tailor  with  his  paper 
measures  hanging  over  his  shoulders  and  his  large 
shears  sticking  out  of  his  pocket,  etc.,  resting  or  leaning 
upon  his  gun  and  conversing  with  a  countryman  who 
had  a  newspaper, — just  at  that  very  time  it  so  happened 
that  Putnam  had  the  houses  at  Charlestown  set  on  fire. 
This  produced  such  an  alarm  in  Boston  that  a  sergeant 
rushed  upon  the  stage  and  cried  out  as  loud  as  he  could : 
"To  arms!  to  arms!  gentlemen,  the  rebels  are  upon 
us!"  The  audience  thought  he  was  acting  part  of  the 
play  and  clapped  him  stoutly  because  he  did  so  well, 
and  It  was  some  time  before  he  could  make  them  under- 
stand it  was  no  sham.  When  they  did,  however,  they 
tumbled  down-stairs,  over  one  another  as  fast  as  they 
could,  and  broke  up  the  Yankee  play.  My  father  and 
mother  were  in  the  house  (Faneull  Hall)  at  the  time 
and  witnessed  the  scene. 

When  the  British  perceived  that  It  would  be  impos- 
sible to  drive  us  from  Dorchester  Heights  without 
another  Bunker  Hill  frolic,  or  one  much  worse,  they 
concluded  to  quit  the  town,  not  burning  It  if  we  let  them 
go  quietly;  so  we  permitted  them  to  depart,  with  their 
braggadocios,  in  peace.  The  first  thing  they  did  was  to 
march  from  Bunker  Hill  in  the  night,  leaving  the  can- 


non  in  the  fort,  and  two  effigies/'  stuffed  with  straw,  to 
stand  sentry  with  guns  upon  their  shoulders,  etc.  They 
passed  over  to  Boston  and,  in  a  short  time,  embarked 
on  their  ships  and  were  off  for  Halifax;  so  I  will  leave 
them  until  necessary  to  make  mention  of  them  again. 

As  my  first  term  of  enlistment  expired  during  the 
continuance  of  the  siege  (Christmas,  1775),  I  had  en- 
listed again  for  one  year  more.  Two  or  three  days 
after  the  British  quitted  Bunker  Hill,  but  before  they 
had  finally  left  Boston  (viz.,  on  March  18,  1776),  our 
regiment  had  orders  to  march  for  New  York,  and  as 
we  set  off  at  great  speed  I  had  not  the  satisfaction  of 
seeing  my  parents,  from  whom  I  had  been  absent  al- 
most three  years.  We  traveled  to  New  London  and, 
embarking  thence,  arrived  in  New  York,  where,  after 
a  stay  of  about  three  weeks, ^  we  were  ordered  (April 
21)  to  Canada,  and  proceeded  up  the  river  on  sloops 
to  Albany  (20). 

Our  regiment  consisted  at  the  time  of  500  strong 
and  tolerably  well-disciplined  soldiers,  badly  equipped 
as  to  guns,  however,  as  the  majority  had  fowling-pieces 
of  different  sizes  and  bores  and  few  of  them  had  bayo- 
nets. Moreover,  the  men  were  unfurnished  with 
swords  to  fight  with  in  close  quarters,  although  a  few 
of  them  had  tomahawks.  We  soon  arrived  at  Ticon- 
deroga,  whence  we  sailed  (May  4)  in  boats  through 
Lake  Champlain  to  St.  Johns,  marched  to  La  Prairie, 
and  finally  crossed  over  to  Montreal  (on  the  15th), 
where  we  were  quartered  in  large  stone  barracks  ad- 
joining the  North  Gate.  The  city,  being  walled  in, 
is  supplied  with  gates  for  egress,  over  which  are  guard- 
houses.   The  greater  part  of  our  army  (21)  was  now 

^  One  of  these  figures,  according  to  President  Stiles's  (Yale  Col- 
lege) Diary,  March  17,  bore  on  its  breast  a  placard  inscribed: 
"Welcome,  Brother  Jonathan!" 

^  During  which  time  Greenwood  had  a  set  of  fifes  made  for  the 
regiment  by  Mr.  A.  Turk. 

[251 


down  the  St.  Lawrence  toward  Quebec  at  a  place  called 
Three  Rivers.  We  had  been  in  Montreal  but  a  few  days 
when  numbers  of  our  men  were  attacked  with  the 
smallpox  and  carried  to  the  hospital. 

At  this  time  there  was  a  regiment  stationed  farther 
up  the  river,  at  the  Cedars,  about  thirty-five  miles 
southwest  from  Montreal,  under  the  command  of 
Colonel  Bedel  (22).  It  was  now  surrounded  by  1300 
Indians  and  sixty-odd  British  troops,  having  with  them 
two  brass  field-pieces  and  a  company  of  Canadian  sol- 
diers. The  American  regiment  consisted,  as  I  was 
told,  of  600  or  700  altogether.  Colonel  Bedel  had 
intrenched  himself  in  a  small  fort,  and  was  so  com- 
pletely hemmed  in  by  the  enemy  that  he  could  get  no 
supplies  whatever.  He  sent  an  express  down  to  Gen- 
eral Arnold,  who  was  the  commanding  officer  at  Mon- 
treal, for  a  reinforcement  and  provisions,  but  was 
obliged  to  surrender  to  the  mercy  of  the  Indians  before 
he  could  be  assisted.  Arnold,  not  knowing  he  had 
given  up  his  troops,  sent^  to  his  aid  200  men  from  our 
regiment,  with  three  wagons  loaded  with  provisions. 
My  captain.  Bliss,  and  the  lieutenant,  Edward  Com- 
stock,''  who  is  now  (1809)  living  in  Albany,  were  of 
the  party,  and  I,  as  fife-major  and  able  to  send  what 
fifer  I  pleased,  detailed  two  fifers  who,  with  two  drum- 
mers, accompanied  them.  Off  they  all  marched,  little 
thinking  what  a  time  they  would  have  of  it. 

The  party  was  commanded  by  our  major,  Henry 
Sherburne  (23),  now  (1809)  State  Treasurer  of 
Rhode  Island;  a  braver  man  never  was  made,  and  he 
was  a  strict  disciplinarian.  When  they  arrived  at  Fort 
Ann,  about  thirty  miles  up  the  St.  Lawrence  River, 
they  crossed  over  and  began  their  march  toward  the 
Cedars,  which  was  some  three  or  four  miles  from  the 

^  May  16,  1776;  Bedel  surrendered  on  the  19th. 
^Edward  Cumston  was  second  lieutenant;   for  John   Cumston, 
first  lieutenant,  see  Note  18. 


opposite  shore.  The  Indians,  who  had  timely  notice 
of  their  coming,  lined  the  woods  and  bushes  alongside 
the  road,  close  to  a  small  bridge  and  about  two  miles 
from  where  they  landed,  and  likewise  sent  a  party  to 
destroy  their  boats  and  take  the  men  prisoners  who 
had  been  left  in  charge  of  them.  As  soon  as  the  Ameri- 
cans came  opposite  to  the  place  where  the  Indians  were 
concealed  (May  20),  the  latter  rose  up  and  poured 
upon  them  a  tremendous  fire,  making  at  the  same  time 
a  most  hideous  noise  called  the  war-whoop,  which 
sounds  thus:  "Woo-woo-woo-whoop !"  (The  last 
syllable  is  raised  to  a  monstrous  scream  or  yell,  and 
this  is  kept  up  so  incessantly  that  it  is  impossible 
to  hear  the  word  of  command  from  your  officers.) 
Our  men  fought  the  1300  devils  for  upward  of 
two  hours  and  killed  a  number  of  them,  including 
several  chiefs,  and  losing  themselves  sixty-odd  men 
besides  having  many  more  wounded.  The  Indians 
are  not  such  good  marksmen  in  an  engagement 
as  they  are  in  hunting,  neither  are  they  so  brave 
as  generally  represented,  for  they  cannot  face  an 
enemy;  their  mode  of  fighting  is  very  irregular, 
and  they  like  something  to  get  behind  or  skulk  under. 
Major  Sherburne,  however,  was  obliged  at  last  to 
give  up,  and  no  sooner  were  his  men  prisoners  than  the 
Indians,  exasperated  from  the  loss  of  some  of  their 
best  chiefs  and  warriors,  fell  to  work  stripping  and 
leaving  stark  naked  those  who  had  clothes  on  fit  for 
anything,  despatching  the  wounded  by  knocking  them 
on  the  head  with  their  axes  and  tomahawks,  and  scalp- 
ing the  dead,  that  is,  tearing  the  skin  and  hair  from 
the  top  of  their  heads.  Previous  to  being  slain  the 
wounded  had  to  suffer  the  torments  inflicted  by  the 
children  of  the  savages.  The  dead  were  also  divested 
of  their  clothing  and  laid  by  the  road-side,  where 
our  remaining  troops  were  driven  past  them  like 
cattle    to    witness    the    spectacle,    the    Indians   bran- 


dishing  their  knives  and  tomahawks  over  their  heads, 
and  howling  and  screaming  like  madmen  or  devils. 
Thus  they  were  taken  to  the  Cedars,  where  the  other 
prisoners  were  confined  in  an  old  stone  church.  The 
Indians,  being  so  many  in  number  and  no  providers 
for  the  future,  were  themselves  in  a  state  of  starva- 
tion, and  Colonel  Bedel's  regiment  having  no  sup- 
plies when  taken  by  them,  you  may  imagine  how 
the  poor  prisoners  suffered;  I  believe  if  it  had  not 
been  for  the  interference  of  the  British  troops,  the 
Indians  would  have  burned  and  murdered  every  one  of 
them.  They  had  already  killed  and  destroyed  every 
living  creature  around  except  the  Roman  Catholic 
priest's  cow,  and  at  last  they  knocked  her  in  the  head 
and,  without  skinning  her,  cutting  the  flesh  off  with 
their  scalping  knives  while  still  alive,  ate  her,  guts  and 
all. 

The  Indians  were  so  elated  with  their  success  that  in 
a  day  or  two  they  began  their  march  toward  Montreal 
to  attack  us.  At  the  time  two  thirds  of  our  troops 
were  down  with  the  smallpox,  then  raging  at  its  height, 
and  we  could  spare  not  more  than  500,  bateaux  men 
and  all,  to  go  and  meet  them,  leaving  a  small  number 
to  guard  the  city.  I  must  observe  that  it  Is  a  custom 
of  the  Indians  always  to  carry  their  prisoners  with 
them,  placing  them  at  night  on  a  point  of  land  near  the 
river  and  putting  a  guard  across.  The  prisoners, 
obliged  to  lie  upon  the  damp  ground  In  the  open  air 
without  the  least  covering  except  the  heavens,  often 
well  soaked  with  rain  and  with  little  or  nothing  to  eat, 
are  generally  much  debilitated  and  weakened  and  sub- 
ject to  attacks  of  flux  and  fever.  As  soon  as  one  poor 
fellow  is  not  able,  the  next  morning,  to  travel  with 
them,  the  Indians  knock  him  in  the  head,  more  for  the 
sake  of  getting  his  scalp  than  of  getting  rid  of  him,  for 
the  scalp  Is  their  trophy  of  war,  and  he  who  has  in  his 
possession  the  greatest  number  is  accounted  the  brav- 


est  warrior.  As  they  have  no  general  among  them, 
every  one  does  pretty  much  as  he  pleases,  so  they 
brought  their  prisoners  with  them  to  within  three  or 
four  miles  of  where  we  were  In  Montreal. 

(Saturday,  May  25)  Arnold  paraded  about  500 
men  to  go  and  give  them  battle.  I  was  with  the  ad- 
vance-guard and  we  had  not  proceeded  more  than  two 
miles  beyond  the  city  before  three  Indians  were  seen 
In  the  road  coming  toward  us,  who,  as  soon  as  they 
perceived  us,  gave  the  war-whoop,  hove  down  their 
guns  and  blankets,  and,  flying  to  the  woods,  disap- 
peared In  a  moment.  Our  guide  was  a  British  soldier 
who  had  deserted  from  the  Rangers,  and  Arnold  now 
sent  orders  for  him  to  cross  the  woods  for  the  purpose 
of  reconnoltering  the  enemy,  while  I,  who  happened  to 
be  near  him  and  who  was  thought  to  be  a  brave  little 
fellow  of  some  Intelligence,  was  appointed  to  accom- 
pany him.  He  had  no  other  arms  than  a  tomahawk, 
while  I  had  a  small  japanned  fusee  and  a  sword,  so  I 
did  not  hesitate  to  go  with  him  alone,  although  I  did 
not  much  like  his  face.  We  cut  across  the  woods;  my 
gun  was  loaded,  my  sword  was  sharp,  and  I  managed 
to  be  always  on  guard  by  keeping  at  a  little  distance 
from  my  companion,  for  I  never  liked  a  deserter  or  a 
traitor — neither  can  be  trusted.  Just  at  evening  we  ar- 
rived at  a  place  called  La  Chine, ^"^  about  eight  miles 
from  Montreal.  Here  Jack,  the  guide,  left  me  by  the 
side  of  a  fence,  telling  me  to  remain  there  until  he  re- 
turned, as  he  was  going  to  a  small  house  that  stood  near 
by  where  he  was  well  acquainted  with  the  people,  but 
where  he  was  afraid  my  regimental  clothing,  a  blue 
coat  turned  up  with  buff  and  trimmed  with  silver  lace, 
would  create  suspicion.  He  went  down  and,  having 
soon  returned,  desired  me  to  follow  him  as  It  was  then 
somewhat  dark.     I  entered  the  house  and  found  the 

^°  "Glasheen"    in    the    original    manuscript.        Southwest    from 
Montreal. 

n29: 


inmates  to  consist  of  a  Canadian  man  about  fifty  years 
old,  his  wife  of  thirty,  whom  he  had  purchased  from 
the  Indians  as  I  learned,  and  an  old  Canadian  woman 
perhaps  seventy-five  years  of  age. 

We  had  not  been  in  the  place  more  than  ten  or  fifteen 
minutes  before  the  war-whoop  of  the  Indians  was 
heard;  we  had  got  ahead  of  them,  and  they  were  now 
flying  before  General  Arnold.  The  building  was  a  one- 
story  stone  structure  with  two  rooms  on  the  ground 
floor.  In  one  of  these  was  a  bed  under  which  this 
fellow  Jack  and  myself  quickly  ensconced  ourselves.  In 
a  minute  or  two  the  house  and  the  entire  road  were 
filled  with  Indians,  making  a  most  hideous  noise  and 
retreating  as  fast  as  they  could  toward  Fort  Ann,  some 
twelve  miles  off.  In  about  an  hour  they  had  all  passed 
by  without  discovering  us;  had  they  found  us  we  would 
have  been  burned  alive.  Jack  now  borrowed  from  the 
Canadian  his  spare  clothes  and,  putting  them  on,  left 
his  own  behind,  saying,  "We  will  follow  them  and  see 
what  they  are  about."  So  after  them  we  went,  not  by 
the  road  but  across  the  fields,  and  at  length  came  to 
the  settlement  where  the  enemy  had  stopped,  called 
Fort  Ann,  near  which  place  we  passed  into  the  road. 
The  fences  in  that  part  of  the  country  were  sometimes 
made  of  logs  set  upright  and  as  close  as  they  can  stand 
to  one  another.  By  the  side  of  such  a  fence  I  was  now 
told  to  wait  while  my  companion,  being  disguised,  went 
into  the  town  to  observe  their  movements.  I  was  to 
remain  until  he  returned,  and  had  he  been  taken  pris- 
oner, or  had  any  mishap  befallen  him  to  prevent  his 
coming  back,  I  should  have  been  obliged  to  stay  there 
until  daylight  and  be  taken  prisoner  myself,  for  I  never 
could  have  found  my  own  way  back  to  our  detachment. 
I  began  to  think  what  a  situation  I  was  in,  standing  in  a 
nook  between  two  posts  of  the  fence,  within  hearing  of 
the  savage  Indians.  Every  minute  appeared  an  hour; 
sometimes  I  heard  them  walking  by  me  in  the  road, 

Do] 


then  again  I  would  fancy  they  were  looking  after  me; 
in  short  I  had  but  a  very  unpleasant  time  of  it. 

A  signal  had  been  agreed  upon  between  the  guide 
and  myself:  he  was  to  come  along  the  fence  with  one 
hand  touching  it  until  he  touched  me;  then  I  might  be 
sure  it  was  he.  In  about  an  hour  he  returned  and 
touched  me;  it  made  my  heart  beat  again.  "Come 
along,"  he  said,  "the  Indians  are  crossing  the  river,  and 
will  be  all  over  before  our  troops  can  come  up  with 
them.  We  must  go  and  inform  the  general."  In  haste 
we  took  our  route  back  over  the  fields.  It  was  quite 
dark  and  I,  being  slipshod,  had  the  misfortune  in  get- 
ting over  a  high  picket  fence  to  drop  one  of  my  shoes, 
and,  jumping  down  on  a  sharp  stone,  cut  a  large  gash 
in  my  right  heel.  This  hurt  me  considerably  before  the 
end  of  the  two  remaining  miles  to  La  Chine,  where  our 
troops  then  were.  However,  we  reached  this  point 
near  daylight  and  informed  the  general  as  to  the  situa- 
tion of  the  enemy. 

The  troops  were  soon  mustered  for  pursuit,  but  as 
I  could  not  walk  without  much  pain,  I  was  obliged  now 
to  get  into  one  of  the  boats.  The  river  being  very 
rapid,  it  was  late  before  these  bateaux,  or  boats,  got  up 
to  Fort  Ann,  and  the  sun  was  about  two  hours  high. 
The  troops  were  in  readiness  to  embark  and  follow  the 
enemy,  so  on  board  they  came,  and  I  had  the  command 
of  a  blunderbuss  at  the  bow  of  our  boat.  General  Ar- 
nold was  in  a  birch  canoe  paddled  by  two  Indians  who 
belonged  to  a  party  of  200  that  had  joined  us  after  our 
arrival  at  La  Chine,  opposite  to  which  place  they  have 
a  town  called  Caughnawaga.  (They  are  a  cowardly  set 
of  fellows  except  they  have  the  advantage  of  you.) 

About  a  half-hour  before  sunset  we  neared  the  oppo- 
site shore,  at  which  point  the  river  is  very  wide,  some- 
thing like  a  bay.  As  we  passed  a  small  island,  our  boat 
being  near  it,  a  naked  man  up  to  his  middle  in  the  water 
was  seen  coming  off  to  us.    We  rowed  toward  him  and 

1130 


took  him  in,  when  he  proved  to  be  one  of  our  men  who 
had  escaped  from  the  Indians,  anxious  for  his  revenge 
against  them,  eager  to  conduct  us  where  they  were,  and 
apparently  no  more  concerned  about  his  appearance 
than  if  he  were  dressed  like  a  prince.  We  pushed  on 
until  within  musket-shot  of  the  shore  (at  Quinze 
Chiens).  The  landing-place  was  covered  with  woods, 
and  behind  every  tree  were  three  or  four  Indians  who 
poured  or  showered  their  bullets  upon  us  as  thick  as 
hailstones.  As  it  was  now  sundown,  General  Arnold 
thought  proper  to  give  the  signal  of  retreat  to  the 
other  side  of  the  river,  so  back  we  went. 

The  English  had  drawn  down  their  two  field-pieces^^ 
to  the  shore  and  now  began  to  play  amongst  us  with 
them,  which  made  our  Indians  fly  with  their  birch 
canoes  like  so  many  devils;  they  do  not  like  to  see  large 
balls  skipping  over  the  water,  in  and  out  until  their 
force  is  lost,  for  a  single  one  would  knock  their  paper 
boats  to  pieces  in  a  moment. 

On  landing,  as  we  were  in  sight  of  the  enemy,  a  great 
number  of  fires  were  ordered  to  be  kindled  to  make 
them  suppose  we  were  many  in  numbers,  so  about  mid- 
night a  flag  of  truce  came  over  to  capitulate  with  us, 
as  they  knew  we  intended  to  attack  them  the  next  morn- 
ing. They  agreed  to  give  up  all  their  prisoners  on  con- 
dition that  they  should  not  be  employed  against  them 
for,  I  think,  the  next  seven  months,  and  hostages  were 
given  by  the  Americans;  that  is,  some  of  the  officers 
were  left  in  their  possession,  my  captain  (Bliss)  among 
the  rest. 

The  next  day  they  sent  over  the  prisoners, — poor 
fellows,  they  looked  as  if  they  had  been  dragged  by 
the  heels  for  a  hundred  miles  over  the  ground, — some- 
thing similar,  I  suppose,  to  those  who  were  exchanged 
from  the  Jersey  prison-ship  by  the  English  at  New 
York.     The  Indians  and  the  English  acted  very  much 

"  See  Note  22. 

1:323 


alike,  that  is,  without  principle,  only  trying  how  badly 
they  could  treat  those  in  their  possession,  little  think- 
ing it  would  be  our  turn  next  to  tickle  them. 


n33] 


CHAPTER  III 

Retreat  from  Canada  to  Ticonderoga;  regiment 
JOINS  General  Washington  in  New  Jersey; 

BATTLE    OF    TrENTON  ;    GREENWOOD    LEAVES    THE 
ARMY 

THE  enemy  was  now  advancing  from  Quebec 
along  either  side  of  the  river.  As  the  majority 
of  our  men  were  sick  with  the  smallpox,  we 
made  the  best  of  our  way  back  to  Montreal  for  the 
purpose  of  retiring  from  it,  and  had  been  in  the  city 
but  a  few  days  when  late  one  afternoon  the  order  (24) 
came:  "Retreat!  retreat!  the  British  are  upon  us!" 
Down  we  scampered  to  the  boats,  those  of  the  sick  who 
were  not  led  from  the  hospital  crawling  after  us.  Camp 
equipage,  kettles,  and  everything  were  abandoned  in 
the  utmost  confusion — even  the  bread  that  was  baking 
in  the  ovens — for  we  were  glad  to  get  away  with  whole 
skins.  When  half-way  across  the  river  it  began  to 
grow  very  dark,  and  down  came  the  rain  in  drops  the 
size  of  large  peas,  wetting  our  smallpox  fellows,  hud- 
dled together  like  cord-wood  in  the  boats,  and  causing 
the  death  of  many. 

It  was  a  very  cold  rain,  and  as  the  boat  struck  the 
shore  I,  being  but  a  boy  and  wet  through  and  through, 
tried  to  take  care  of  myself,  at  which  I  had  a  tolerable 
good  knack,  and  so  left  the  rest,  dead  and  alive,  to  do 
the  same.    An  old  barn  being  near,  I  went  in  and  soon 

C343 


found  that  others  had  discovered  the  retreat  as  well  as 
myself,  and  were  lying  on  the  floor  close  together  like 
hogs,  so  I  contentedly  pigged  it  down  with  the  rest,  not 
knowing  who  they  were  nor  caring  if  they  had  been 
devils  so  long  as  I  could  have  got  a  warm  berth  among 
them.  I  had  not  been  in  the  barn  longer  than  to  get 
warm,  so  as  to  smoke  a  little,  when  the  officers  came 

poking  along,  shouting:  "Turn  out,   turn  out,  d 

you,  and  march  to  join  the  army  at  Longueuil !  Turn 
out  or  we  will  fire  upon  you!"  Thinks  I  to  myself, 
"Fire  away!"  However,  we  had  to  answer  as  they 
could  not  see  us,  and  so  said  we  were  ready  to  march. 
Out  we  came  into  the  rain  and  had  to  march  three  miles, 
half  a  leg  deep  in  mud,  to  Longueuil,  where  General 
Arnold  was  mustering  his  scattered  once-were-men. 
Looking  around  after  reaching  this  place,  I  observed 
near  by  a  windmill,  into  which  I  got  unnoticed  and, 
mounting  to  where  the  stones  were,  lay  down  and  was 
only  waked  up  at  daybreak  by  the  noise  of  the  drums 
beating  "to  arms."  Down  I  came  out  of  the  mill  and 
at  last  found  the  remains  of  our  regiment,  the  officers 
never  questioning  as  to  where  I  had  been,  for  they  al- 
ways had  a  good  opinion  of  my  bravery. 

General  Arnold  gathered  together  the  priests  and 
the  friars  and  told  them  that  if  they  did  not  imme- 
diately procure  all  the  carts  and  wagons  around  the 
town,  to  carry  the  sick  and  what  stores,  etc.,  we  had, 
he  would  set  the  place  on  fire.  These  conveyances 
were  quickly  brought  and  we  marched  on  toward  La 
Prairie.  My  party  being  in  the  rear  we  found,  on 
reaching  a  bridge  that  lies  between  Longueuil  and  La 
Prairie,  that  it  had  been  fired  by  the  party  which  had 
marched  before  us,  and  consequently  we  had  to  march 
over  it  while  in  flames.  The  road  ran  alongside  of  the 
river  opposite  the  city  of  Montreal,  and  we  could 
plainly  see  the  red-coated  British  soldiers  on  the 
other  shore;  so  close  were  they  upon  us  that,  if  we 

1:35:1 


had  not  retreated  as  we  did,  all  would  have  been  pris- 
oners, for  they  were  in  numbers  as  six  to  our  one,  and 
we,  moreover,  nearly  half  dead  with  sickness  and  fa- 
tigue and  lack  of  clothing,  etc.,  etc. 

On  the  previous  day  our  boats  had  landed  at  differ- 
ent places  along  shore  on  account  of  the  strong  current 
running  in  the  river,  and  after  the  sick  and  lame  had 
been  taken  out  and  left  to  shift  for  themselves  in  the 
rain  during  the  night,  these  boats,  according  to  orders, 
had  been  stove  to  pieces  to  prevent  the  enemy  from 
securing  them.  As  we  now  marched  along,  the  sad 
sight  of  many  a  companion  who  had  died  from  ex- 
posure met  our  gaze.  The  shore,  moreover,  was 
strewed  with  different  things,  such  as  Arnold's  plunder 
from  the  city,  for  the  fellow  had  consumed  the  fore 
part  of  the  day  on  which  we  retreated  in  carrying  over 
the  river  plunder  of  different  kinds,  such  as  wine,  butter, 
raisins,  etc.,  etc.  We  were  obliged,  however,  to  leave 
the  best  part  of  this  and  retreat  to  St.  Johns,  at  the 
head  of  Lake  Champlain,  where  we  stopped  for  a  few 
days  to  collect  all  our  scattered  soldiers  together,  pre- 
vious to  crossing  the  lake,  which  is  i8o  miles  long  as 
I  was  informed. 

After  a  while  we  embarked  in  open  boats  and  pro- 
ceeded toward  Ticonderoga.  On  the  route  the  rations, 
served  out  to  us  each  day,  consisted  of  a  pint  of  flour 
and  a  quarter-pound  of  pork  for  every  man,  and  to 
cook  this  we  were  allowed  to  land  at  noon.  We  were 
without  camp-kettles  or  any  utensils  whatever  to  make 
bread  in,  and  pretty  kind  of  stuff  was  the  preparation 
dignified  by  the  latter  term — mixed  up  with  water  from 
the  lake,  by  fellows  as  lousy,  itchy,  and  nasty  as  hogs, 
I  have  seen  it,  when  made  and  baked  upon  a  piece  of 
bark,  so  black  with  dirt  and  smoke  I  do  not  think  a  dog 
could  eat  it.  But  with  us  it  went  down,  lice,  itch,  and 
all,  without  any  grumbling,  while  the  pork  was  broiled 
on  a  wooden  fork  and  the  drippings  caught  by  the  beau- 


tiful  flour  cakes.  Such  was  the  life  of  our  Continental 
soldiers  who  went  to  Canada,  and  the  sick  among  them 
fared  not  otherwise.  As  for  myself,  being  a  fife-major 
and  a  favorite  with  both  officers  and  men,  I  fared  a 
little  better;  moreover,  though  I  was  but  a  boy,  I  yet 
knew  how  to  take  care  of  myself.  To  cheer  the  men  up 
I  would  often  play  them  a  tune,  and  having  a  constitu- 
tion like  a  horse,  kept  always  lively  and  encouraging 
the  sick,  doing  what  was  in  my  power  for  them  as  I  had 
little  else  to  do,  never  being  called  upon  to  row  the 
boat  or  to  do  the  least  of  fatigue  duty.  I  slept,  too,  all 
night  and  was  in  heaven  compared  to  any  of  them, 
though  the  best  fare  was  bad  enough  for  me. 

At  last  we  arrived  at  Ticonderoga  and  four  New 
England  regiments,  of  which  number  ours  was  one, 
were  ordered  to  make  an  encampment  on  Mt.  Inde- 
pendence, a  high  mountain  opposite  Ticonderoga.^ 
This  place  was  covered  with  thick  woods  and,  being 
also  very  rocky,  was  filled  with  snakes  of  every  descrip- 
tion, though  mostly  black  and  rattlesnakes.  Had  it 
been  filled  with  devils,  however,  it  would  have  made  no 
difference  to  our  soldiers,  for  they  were  proof  against 
everything.  After  we  had  been  there  two  or  three 
months  down  came  the  British  on  the  lake  with  a  ship 
of  twenty  guns,  brass  6-pounders,  and  ninety  gunboats 
filled  with  men,  to  attack  our  little  fleet  of  thirteen  sail, 
consisting  of  a  sloop,  a  schooner,  three  or  four  floating 
batteries,  and  other  small  craft.  Arnold  commanded 
the  Mosquito  Fleet,  as  it  was  called,  and  gave  the  enemy 
battle  (October  ii,  etc.,  1776),  but  was  overpowered 
with  numbers  and  obliged  to  retreat. 

While  stationed  on  Mt.  Independence  plenty  of  cat- 
tle were  driven  to  the  camp,  and,  being  fed  constantly 
on  fresh  meat  without  a  particle  of  salt  to  give  it  a 
relish,  our  soldiers  at  length  got  the  flux  (or  camp  dis- 

^  Connected  by  a  floating  bridge   eighty   rods  long   and  twelve 
feet  wide. 

C373 


temper)  and  died  like  rotten  sheep,  so  that  out  of  the 
500  men  we  had  in  our  regiment  upon  entering  Canada, 
but  100  were  left  when  orders  came,  toward  the  close 
of  November,^  for  marching  to  Albany.  I  had  the 
fever  and  ague,  being  sick  for  the  first  time,  and  what 
I  suffered  on  the  march  cannot  be  described.  With  no 
tents  to  shelter  us  from  the  snow  and  rain,  we  were 
obliged  to  get  through  it  as  well  as  we  could,  and  as  to 
eating  or  cooking,  you  may  put  them  out  of  the  ques- 
tion; they  who  were  with  us  know  best  about  these 
things,  others  cannot  believe  the  tenth  part,  so  I  will 
say  nothing  further  on  the  subject.  A  great  many 
things  I  have  not  related  which  are  positive  facts,  as 
no  one  would  be  apt  to  give  them  credence  unless  he 
had  beheld  similar  scenes. 

When  we  arrived  at  Albany  (25)  we  were  ordered 
on  board  vessels  for  Esopus  (or  Kingston),  and 
thence  proceeded,  still  without  tents  and  some  of  our 
men  without  even  shoes,  over  the  mountains  to  a  place 
called  Newton,  in  Pennsylvania,  passing  on  the  way 
through  Nazareth  and  Bethlehem.-^  A  day  or  two 
after  reaching  Newton  we  were  paraded  one  afternoon 
to  march  and  attack  Trenton.  If  I  recollect  aright  the 
sun  was  about  half  an  hour  high  and  shining  brightly, 
but  it  had  no  sooner  set  than  it  began  to  drizzle  or  grow 
wet,  and  when  we  came  to  the  river  it  rained.  Every 
man  had  sixty  rounds  of  cartridges  served  out  to  him, 
and  as  I  then  had  a  gun,  as  indeed  every  officer  had,  I 
put  the  number  which  I  received,  some  in  my  pockets 
and  some  in  my  little  cartridge-box.  Over  the  river  we 
then  went  in  a  flat-bottomed  scow,  and  as  I  was  with 

2  November  18,  1776. 

^  To  this  place,  by  order  of  General  Washington  under  date  of 
December  3,  1776,  the  general  hospital  was  removed  from  Mor- 
ristown,  and  the  sick  and  wounded  found  quarters  in  the  seminary 
and  the  Sun  Inn,  Dr.  John  Warren  being  surgeon-general  of  the 
Continental  Army. 


the  first  that  crossed,  we  had  to  wait  for  the  rest  and 
so  began  to  pull  down  the  fences  and  make  fires  to 
warm  ourselves,  for  the  storm  was  increasing  rapidly. 
After  a  while  it  rained,  hailed,  snowed,  and  froze,  and 
at  the  same  time  blew  a  perfect  hurricane;  so  much  so 
that  I  perfectly  recollect,  after  putting  the  rails  on  to 
burn,  the  wind  and  the  fire  would  cut  them  in  two  in 
a  moment,  and  when  I  turned  my  face  toward  the  fire 
my  back  would  be  freezing.  However,  as  my  usual 
acuteness  had  not  forsaken  me,  by  turning  round  and 
round  I  kept  myself  from  perishing  before  the  large 
bonfire.  The  noise  of  the  soldiers  coming  over  and 
clearing  away  the  ice,  the  rattling  of  the  cannon  wheels 
on  the  frozen  ground,  and  the  cheerfulness  of  my  fel- 
low-comrades encouraged  me  beyond  expression,  and, 
big  coward  as  I  acknowledge  myself  to  be,  I  felt  great 
pleasure,  more  than  I  now  do  in  writing  about  it.  After 
our  men  had  all  crossed — and  there  were  not,  as  I  could 
see,  more  than  200  of  us — we  began  an  apparently  cir- 
cuitous march,  not  advancing  faster  than  a  child  ten 
years  old  could  walk,  and  stopping  frequently,  though 
for  what  purpose  I  know  not.  During  the  whole  night 
it  alternately  hailed,  rained,  snowed,  and  blew  tremen- 
dously. I  recollect  very  well  that  at  one  time,  when  we 
halted  on  the  road,  I  sat  down  on  the  stump  of  a  tree 
and  was  so  benumbed  with  cold  that  I  wanted  to  go  to 
sleep ;  had  I  been  passed  unnoticed  I  should  have  frozen 
to  death  without  knowing  it;  but  as  good  luck  always  at- 
tended me.  Sergeant  Madden  came  and,  rousing  me  up, 
made  me  walk  about.  We  then  began  to  march  again, 
just  in  the  old  slow  way,  until  the  dawn  of  day,  about 
half-past  seven  in  the  morning. 

I  have  heard  that  we  surprised  the  enemy;  if  we  did, 
they  must  have  been  a  lazy,  indolent  set  of  rascals, 
which  is  nothing  to  the  credit  of  a  regular  army,  as  the 
English  called  themselves.  But  any  who  would  even 
suppose  such  a  thing  must  indeed  be  ignorant,  when  it 

[39] 


is  well  known  that  our  whole  country  was  filled  with 
timid,  designing  tories  and  informers  of  all  descrip- 
tions, and  our  march  so  slow  that  it  was  impossible  but 
that  they  should  be  apprised  of  it.^  It  was  likewise 
asserted  at  the  same  time  that  the  enemy  were  all  drunk ; 
if  they  were,  it  shows  there  was  no  good  discipline 
among  those  brave,  regular  troops.  If  they  were 
drunk,  I  can  swear  we  were  all  sober  to  a  man;  not  only 
sober,  but  nearly  half  dead  with  cold  for  the  want  of 
clothing,  as,  putting  the  storm  to  one  side,  many  of  our 
soldiers  had  not  a  shoe  to  their  feet  and  their  clothes 
were  ragged  as  those  of  a  beggar.  I  am  certain  not  a 
drop  of  liquor  was  drunk  during  the  whole  night,  nor, 
as  I  could  see,  even  a  piece  of  bread  eaten,  and  I  am 
willing  to  go  upon  oath  that  I  did  not  see  even  a  solitary 
drunken  soldier  belonging  to  the  enemy, — and  you  will 
find,  as  I  shall  show,  that  I  had  an  opportunity  to  be  as 
good  a  judge  as  any  person  there. 

None  but  the  first  ofl'icers  knew  where  we  were  going 
or  what  we  were  going  about,  for  it  was  a  secret  expe- 
dition, and  we,  the  bulk  of  the  men  coming  from 
Canada,  knew  not  the  disposition  of  the  army  we  were 
then  in,  nor  anything  about  the  country.  This  was  not 
unusual,  however,  as  I  never  heard  soldiers  say  any- 
thing, nor  ever  saw  them  trouble  themselves,  as  to 
where  they  were  or  where  they  were  led.  It  was  enough 
for  them  to  know  that  wherever  the  oflicers  commanded 
they  must  go,  be  it  through  fire  and  water,  for  it  was 
all  the  same  owing  to  the  impossibility  of  being  in  a 
worse  condition  than  their  present  one,  and  therefore 
the  men  always  liked  to  be  kept  moving  in  expectation 
of  bettering  themselves. 

Between  seven  and  eight  o'clock,  as  we  were  march- 
ing near  the  town,  the  first  intimation  I  received  of  our 

*  The  Hessian  commander,  Colonel  Rahl,  was  informed  through 
a  tory  living  on  the  Pennington  road,  but  the  letter  is  said  to  have 
been  found,  unopened,  in  his  pocket. 


going  to  fight  was  the  firing  of  a  6-pound  cannon  at  us, 
the  ball  from  which  struck  the  fore  horse  that  was 
dragging  our  only  piece  of  artillery,  a  3-pounder.  The 
animal,  which  was  near  me  as  I  was  in  the  second  divi- 
sion on  the  left,  was  struck  in  its  belly  and  knocked  over 
on  its  back.  While  it  lay  there  kicking  the  cannon  was 
stopped  and  I  did  not  see  it  again  after  we  had  passed 
on.  As  we  advanced,  it  being  dark  and  stormy  so  that 
we  could  not  see  very  far  ahead,  we  got  within  200 
yards  of  about  300  or  400  Hessians  who  were  paraded, 
two  deep,  in  a  straight  line  with  Colonel  Roll  (Rail  or 
Rahl),  their  commander,  on  horseback,  to  the  right  of 
them.  They  made  a  full  fire  at  us,  but  I  did  not  see 
that  they  killed  any  one.  Our  brave  Major  Sherburne 
ordered  us  to  fall  back  about  300  yards  and  pull  off 
our  packs,  which  we  accordingly  did  and  piled  them  by 
the  roadside.  "Now,  my  boys,"  says  he,  "pass  the 
word  through  the  ranks  that  he  who  is  afraid  to  follow 
me,  let  him  stay  behind  and  take  care  of  the  packs!" 
Not  a  man  offered  to  leave  the  ranks,  and  as  we  never 
went  back  that  way,  we  all  lost  our  packs:  at  least  I 
never  heard  anything  of  mine,  and  I  had  in  it  a  beau- 
tiful suit  of  blue  clothes,  turned  up  with  white  and 
silver  laced.  As  we  had  been  in  the  storm  all  night  we 
were  not  only  wet  through  and  through  ourselves,  but 
our  guns  and  powder  were  wet  also,  so  that  I  do  not 
believe  one  would  go  off,  and  I  saw  none  fired  by  our 
party.  When  we  were  all  ready  we  advanced,  and, 
although  there  was  not  more  than  one  bayonet  to  five 
men,  orders  were  given  to  "Charge  bayonets  and  rush 
on  !"  and  rush  on  we  did.  Within  pistol-shot  they  again 
fired  point-blank  at  us;  we  dodged  and  they  did  not  hit 
a  man,  while  before  they  had  time  to  reload  we  were 
within  three  feet  of  them,  when  they  broke  in  an  instant 
and  ran  like  so  many  frightened  devils  into  the  town, 
which  was  at  a  short  distance,  we  after  them  pell-mell. 
Some  of  the  Hessians  took  refuge  in  a  church  at  the 

[413 


door  of  which  we  stationed  a  guard  to  keep  them  in, 
and  taking  no  further  care  of  them  for  the  present, 
advanced  to  find  more,  for  many  had  run  down  into  the 
cellars  of  the  houses.  I  passed  two  of  their  cannon 
(26),  brass  6-pounders,  by  the  side  of  which  lay  seven 
dead  Hessians  and  a  brass  drum.  This  latter  article 
was,  I  remember,  a  great  curiosity  to  me  and  I  stopped 
to  look  at  it,  but  it  was  quickly  taken  possession  of  by 
one  of  our  drummers,  who  threw  away  his  own  instru- 
ment. At  the  same  time  I  obtained  a  sword  from  one 
of  the  bodies,  and  we  then  ran  on  to  join  the  regiment, 
which  was  marching  down  the  main  street  toward  the 
market.  Just  before  we  reached  this  building,  how- 
ever. General  Washington,  on  horseback  and  alone, 
came  up  to  our  major  and  said,  "March  on,  my  brave 
fellows,  after  me !"  and  rode  off. 

After  passing  a  number  of  dead  and  wounded  Hes- 
sians we  reached  the  other  side  of  the  town  and  on  our 
right  beheld  about  500  or  600  of  the  enemy  paraded, 
two  deep,  in  a  field.  At  the  time  we  were  marching  in 
grand  divisions  which  filled  up  the  street,  but  as  we  got 
opposite  the  enemy  we  halted  and,  filing  off  two  deep, 
marched  right  by  them, — yes,  and  as  regular  as  a  Prus- 
sian troop.  When  we  had  reached  the  end  of  their 
line  we  were  ordered  to  wheel  to  the  right,  which 
brought  us  face  to  face  six  feet  apart,  at  which  time, 
though  not  before,  I  discovered  they  had  no  guns. 
They  had  been  taken  prisoners  by  another  party  and 
we  had  marched  between  them  and  their  guns,  which 
they  had  laid  down.  A  few  minutes  afterward  a  num- 
ber of  wagons  came  behind  us,  into  which  the  guns  were 
placed,  and  the  next  thing  ordered  was  to  disarm  the 
prisoners  of  their  swords,  with  one  of  which  every  man 
was  provided;  these  we  also  put  in  the  wagons,  but  com- 
pelled the  enemy  to  carry  their  cartridge-boxes  them- 
selves. Our  regiment  was  then  ordered  to  conduct 
them  down  to  the  ferry  and  transport  them  over  to  the 

1:423 


other  side,  so  we  began  the  march,  guarding  the  flanks 
or  sides  of  the  road. 

The  Hessian  prisoners,  who  were  all  grenadiers, 
numbered  about  900.  I  saw  also  a  party  of  300  or  400 
who  had  got  off,"^  but  how  they  did  it  I  could  not  con- 
ceive. The  scow,  or  flat-bottomed  boat  which  was  used 
in  transporting  them  over  the  ferry,  was  half  a  leg 
deep  with  rain  and  snow,  and  some  of  the  poor  fellows 
were  so  cold  that  their  under] aws  quivered  like  an 
aspen  leaf.  On  the  march  down  to  the  boats,  seeing 
some  of  our  men  were  much  pleased  with  the  brass  caps 
which  they  had  taken  from  the  dead  Hessians,  our 
prisoners,  who  were  besides  exceedingly  frightened,*^ 
pulled  off  those  that  they  were  wearing,  and,  giving 
them  away,  put  on  the  hats  which  they  carried  tied  be- 
hind their  packs.  With  these  brass  caps  on  it  was 
laughable  to  see  how  our  soldiers  would  strut, — fel- 
lows with  their  elbows  out  and  some  without  a  collar 
to  their  half-a-shirt,  no  shoes,  etc. 

The  next  day  (December  27,  1776),  being  two  days 
after  our  time  was  out,  we  received  three  months'  pay, 
— and  glad  was  I.  We  were  offered  twenty-six  dollars'^ 
to  stay  six  weeks  longer,  but  as  I  did  not  enlist  for  the 
purpose  of  remaining  in  the  army,  but  only  through 
necessity,  as  I  could  not  get  to  my  parents  in  Boston,  I 
was  determined  to  quit  as  soon  as  my  time  was  out.^ 

^  Some  of  the  infantry  and  light  horse  fled  on  the  first  alarm  to 
Bordentown. 

^  They  had  been  told  that  the  Americans  were  a  "race  of  canni- 
bals who  would  not  only  tomahawk  a  poor  Hessian  and  haul  off 
his  hide  for  a  drum's  head,  but  would  just  as  leave  barbecue  and 
eat  him  as  they  would  a  pig." 

^  This  probably  refers  to  Greenwood  himself  and  the  ensigncy  he 
would  have  received. 

^  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush  writes,  December  21,  1776,  to  R.  H.  Lee, 
Esq.,  a  fellow  member  of  Congress,  "that  the  four  eastern  states 
will  find  great  difficulty  in  raising  their  quota  of  men,  owing  to 
that  excessive  rage  for  privateering  which  now  prevails  among 
them,  etc."      ("American  Archives,"  Series  5,  Vol.  Ill,  p.    1512.) 

[143] 


As  our  captain  had  been  taken  prisoner  at  the  Cedars, 
I  told  my  Heutenant  (Edward  Cumston)  that  I  was 
going  home.  "My  God!"  says  he,  "you  are  not,  I 
hope,  going  to  leave  us,  for  you  are  the  life  and  soul 
of  us  and  are  to  be  promoted  to  an  ensign."  I  told  him 
I  would  not  stay  to  be  a  colonel.  I  had  the  itch  then 
so  bad  that  my  breeches  stuck  to  my  thighs,  all  the  skin 
being  off,  and  there  were  hundreds  of  vermin  upon  me, 
owing  to  a  whole  month's  march  and  having  been 
obliged,  for  the  sake  of  keeping  warm,  to  lie  down  at 
night  among  the  soldiers  who  were  huddled  close  to- 
gether like  hogs. 

Leonard  Parks, ^  a  young  fifer-boy,  and  myself  set 
off  to  cross  the  river  for  Newton.  We  were  both  sick, 
and  I  from  weakness  could  hardly  put  one  foot  before 
the  other,  yet  we  trudged  along  together,  with  one 
blanket,  expecting  to  reach  Boston,  the  route  we  had  to 
take  being  about  350  miles.  I  had  thirty-three  paper 
dollars  and  he  had  twenty-four,  as  my  wages,  being  fife- 
major,  were  eleven  dollars  and  his  eight.  After  we 
had  crossed  the  ferry  and  traveled  about  half  a  mile, 
two  mounted  officers  were  seen  coming  toward  us  who 
stopped  to  speak,  when  who  should  one  of  them  prove 
to  be  but  my  own  Captain  Bliss,  who  had  been  taken  in 
Canada  by  the  Indians.  "My  God!"  says  I,  "how 
came  you  here?"  He  said  he  had  been  released  at 
Quebec,  came  on  by  water  to  Philadelphia,  and  was  now 
going  home.     He  was  a  very  pleasant,  good-natured 

^  L.  Parks,  of  Lincoln,  was  fifer  in  1775  to  Captain  Nathan 
Fuller's  company,  Lieutenant-Colonel  William  Band's  (late  Colo- 
nel Gardner's)  37th  Regiment  of  Foot.  He  reenlisted  in  one  of  the 
Massachusetts  regiments  in  1776  and  was  on  service  at  times, 
1777-8,  as  fifer  in  the  militia  company  of  Captain  Samuel  Farrar, 
of  Lincoln,  Colonel  Eleazor  Brook's  regiment.  Parks  was  living 
at  Cambridge,  Massachusetts  (half  a  mile  from  the  bridge)  in 
November,  1816,  at  which  time  his  son,  twenty-three  years  of  age, 
had  just  returned  from  the  East  Indies  after  an  absence  of  five 
years.     (Family  letters,  etc.) 

C443 


man,  had  always  treated  me  like  a  father,  and  was  now 
very  glad  to  see  me.  I  told  him  I  was  very  sick,  was 
returning  home  if  I  could  only  reach  there,  and  begged 
him  to  give  me  his  horse,  informing  him  that,  as  it  was 
nearly  good  for  nothing,  he  could  get  a  fine  one  in 
Trenton,  where  there  were  plenty  running  about  the 
streets.  He  said  he  had  no  money,  and  if  I  would  give 
him  eleven  dollars  for  the  horse  I  might  have  him.  To 
this  I  agreed,  and  the  captain,  taking  off  the  saddle 
and  bridle  and  putting  them  upon  his  own  shoulders, 
bade  me  good-by  and  left  me  with  my  purchase. 

"Well,"  said  I,  "we  have  got  a  horse  but  no  saddle 
or  bridle."  There  stood  the  animal,  hearing  what  we 
had  to  say  of  him,  and  riding  him  was  out  of  the  ques- 
tion, for  we  were  quite  sensitive  in  those  parts  which 
were  to  come  in  contact  with  his  back, — such  a  back, 
too,  as  sharp  as  a  knife.  So  I  left  him  with  Parks  to 
be  careful  that  he  did  not  run  away  while  I  went  to  a 
farm-house  near  by  to  try  and  get  a  saddle  and  bridle. 
I  do  not  think,  however,  there  was  need  of  any  fear  as 
to  our  steed's  escaping,  for  he  looked  as  if  he  had  never 
run  in  his  lifetime,  and  Don  Quixote's  Rosinante  was 
a  fool  compared  to  him  in  leanness, — although  his  hair 
was  thick  you  could  count  every  rib, — nevertheless  he 
was  fierce  enough  for  us  who  were  no  horsemen. 

When  I  reached  the  farm-house  I  told  my  story  and 
begged  the  gift  of  any  kind  of  an  old  saddle.  With 
some  hemming  and  hawing  the  person  who  lived  there 
told  me  he  had  one  and  sent  a  boy  to  bring  it.  It 
proved  to  be  an  old  Dutch  saddle,  which,  made  in 
Noah's  ark,  had  been  in  use  ever  since,  to  judge  from 
its  appearance.  As  there  were  no  stirrups  the  man 
rigged  up  two  ropes  to  answer  in  their  place,  and 
gave  me  an  additional  piece  of  rope  to  tie  around 
the  animal's  neck  for  a  bridle,  charging  me  two  dol- 
lars for  the  whole.  Thus  was  I  fitted  out,  with  my 
Hessian  brass-handled  sword  with  its  two  tassels  and 

1:453 


my  war-horse  which  was  to  carry  two  of  us  for  350 
miles. 

As  the  horse  was  mine  I  told  Parks  he  should  share 
It  with  me  and  we  would  ride  tie  and  tie;  that  Is,  I 
would  ride  It  two  miles,  and,  tying  It  In  the  road,  walk 
on,  and  when  he  came  up  he  would  mount  and  overtake 
me;  thus  would  we  go  on  as  far  as  the  horse  would 
carry  us,  paying  for  his  feed  between  us.  I  mounted 
him  first  and  set  off,  but  the  rope  stirrups  hurting  my 
feet,  I  had  to  bear  all  of  my  weight  upon  my  body, 
and,  being  very  sore  thereabouts,  you  may  depend  I 
had  no  very  pleasant  time  of  It.  When  I  got  off  I  could 
hardly  stand,  but  I  tied  the  horse  to  a  post  and  crawled 
on  half  bent  and  very  sore  from  the  old  Dutch  saddle, 
which  was  as  hard  as  Iron.  In  this  way  we  kept  on  for 
three  or  four  days,  when  at  last  poor  Parks  gave  out 
and  could  go  no  farther,  so  I  was  left  alone.  On  1 
went,  sometimes  riding,  sometimes  walking,  and  finally, 
near  sundown,  drew  up  my  horse  at  a  point  where  two 
roads  diverged  at  a  small  angle.  Neither  was  much 
beaten,  and,  no  house  being  near,  I  took  the  one  I 
thought  best,  which  led  me  through  a  thick  wood  out 
upon  a  swamp  or  meadow.  Here  my  horse  stopped 
and  would  go  no  farther — It  was  about  eight  o'clock  at 
night  and  dark  as  pitch — so  I  got  off  and  began  to  bang 
him,  but  he  would  turn  around  and  go  another  way. 
"Well,"  thinks  I,  "you  may  go  which  way  you  will;  I'll 
follow."  So  on  we  went  for  an  hour  longer  through 
the  woods,  the  wolves,  foxes,  or  some  other  creatures 
making  different  bowlings  or  noises.  I  had  seen  too 
much  danger  to  be  afraid  of  these,  however,  and  be- 
sides my  horse  was  a  great  deal  of  company,  though  I 
will  confess  that  In  my  present  quandary  I  had  quite  for- 
gotten about  my  ailments.  After  traveling  an  hour  and 
a  half  longer  I  saw  an  opening  before  me,  and  then  a 
rail  fence  which  I  followed  until  I  came  to  a  small 
farm-house. 

[46] 


In  I  went  and  the  people  were  very  glad  to  see  me, 
for  they  had  a  son  In  the  army  and  were  delighted  with 
my  description  of  the  battle  of  Trenton,  where  we  had 
but  two  or  three  men  killed  in  the  whole  affray  and 
took  upward  of  900  prisoners.  I  was  given  a  supper 
of  mush  and  milk  and  a  blanket  to  lie  down  on  by  the 
fireside,  and,  rising  early  to  proceed  on  my  journey,  the 
people  told  me  I  had  missed  my  road,  and,  carrying 
through  the  fields,  showed  me  the  right  one.  I  bade 
them  good-by  and  continued  onward  with  my  old  horse, 
nothing  material  happening  to  me  until  my  arrival  at 
a  place  called  King's  Ferry^*^  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Hudson  or  North  River,  in  the  State  of  New  York. 
Here  I  was  detained  three  or  four  days  as  the  river 
was  filled  with  large  cakes  of  ice;  these,  however,  at 
last  parted  in  such  a  way  as  to  leave  an  opening  for  the 
ferry-boat  to  venture  across.  The  boat  had  four  or  five 
horses  in  it,  besides  being  filled  with  passengers,  and 
we  just  got  across  in  time  to  jump  out,  for  a  large  cake 
of  ice,  near  half  a  mile  long,  coming  down  with  the  tide, 
struck  the  boat  and  carried  it  some  distance  down  the 
river.  Some  of  the  horses,  I  recollect,  were  then  in  her, 
but  whether  I  got  mine  out  or  not  I  have  forgotten. 
This  much  I  do  remember,  however,  that  I  traveled 
home  on  foot  from  the  east  side  of  the  North  River. 
When  I  arrived  at  my  father's  house  in  Boston  the 
first  thing  done  was  to  bake  my  clothes  and  then  to 
anoint  me  all  over  with  brimstone. 

I  had  then  been  in  the  army  twenty  months  and  had 
received  during  that  time  only  six  months'  pay  for  all 
my  services;  I  have  never  asked  nor  applied  to  Con- 
gress for  the  residue  since,  and  I  never  shall. 

^•^  Communication  was  kept  up  by  means  of  flatboats  with  Ver- 
planck's  Point  on  the  eastern  side;  "it  was  the  main  crossing  place 
of  troops  moving  between  the  Eastern  and  Middle  States." 


[47] 


CHAPTER  IV 
Sails  with  Captain  Manley  in  the  Cumberland; 

A  PRISONER  IN  THE  BaRBADOES  ;  RELEASE  AND 
RETURN  HOME 

A  FTER  I  had  been  home  two  or  three  months/ 
/-%  I  began  to  feel  uneasy  and  wanted  to  go  to  sea, 
^  -^  so  one  day  I  went  down  on  board  a  privateer- 
ship  of  eighteen  6-pounders,  called  the  Cumberland, 
and  commanded  by  that  great  fighting  man,  Commo- 
dore Manley.  The  crew  was  composed  of  130  men, 
and  I,  then  seventeen  years  of  age,^  entered  as  the 
steward's  mate  and  acted  as  midshipman.  Our  inten- 
tion was  to  cruise  off  the  island  of  Barbadoes  and  inter- 
cept the  outwardbound  West  Indian  fleet  of  merchant- 
men. On  the  voyage  we  fell  in  with  a  large  ship  which 
had  become  dismasted  in  a  gale  of  wind  while  running 
from  St.  Johns,  Newfoundland,  to  Halifax,  Nova 
Scotia,  and  was,  when  we  came  up  with  her,  rolling 
about  like  a  hogshead,  keel  out.  She  had  on  board  a 
number  of  British  soldiers,  some  clothing,  and  wine. 
These  latter  articles  were  taken  out,  a  prize-master^ 

^  As  before  stated  in  the  Introduction  (p.  xvi),  there  is  a  lapse  of 
two  years  in  the  narrative,  Captain  Manley  having  sailed  from 
Boston  early  in  1779. 

^  Should  be  "nineteen  years  of  age." 

^  The  prize,  a  transport  with  recruits  for  the  Nova  Scotia  vol- 
unteers, was  recaptured,  when  close  to  Martinique,  by  the  Venus, 
36,  Captain  William  P.  Williams. 

1:48] 


appointed,  and,  having  rigged  up  jury-masts,  the  vessel 
was  sent  to  Martinique.  This  was  in  the  year  1779 
(sic).  A  few  days  after  taking  the  prize  we  saw  the 
island  of  Barbadoes  and  sailed  near  enough  to  see  three 
signal  flagstafifs  at  Bridge  Town  or  Carlisle  Bay.  It 
was  late  in  the  afternoon,  so  we  'bout  ship  and  stood 
off  from  the  land  with  our  head  to  the  eastward,  under 
easy  sail  all  night,  in  expectation  of  seeing  a  prize  in 
the  morning. 

About  seven  o'clock  the  next  day  (circa  January  26, 
1779),  a  vessel  was  seen  bearing  down  toward  us  with 
steering-sails  set  below  and  aloft;  we  likewise  set  all 
sail  upon  a  wind  and  stood  for  her,  running  in  a  short 
time  close  under  her  larboard  quarter.  She  proved 
to  be  the  Pomona,  frigate,  thirty-six  guns,  9-  and  12- 
pounders,  etc.,  300  men,  and  as  we  had  only  eighteen 
guns,  130  men,  we  were  obliged  to  try  and  make  our 
escape.  The  frigate  quickly  took  in  her  steering-sails, 
hauled  her  wind,  and  stood  after  us,  but  we  held  her  a 
good  tug  all  day  until  nine  o'clock  at  night,  firing  at 
each  other  during  the  chase.  One  very  singular  circum- 
stance happened  during  the  day.  The  captain  of  the 
maintop  came  down  into  the  cockpit  for  a  drink,  and  as 
he  turned  to  go  back  observed  that  he  was  certain  he 
should  never  come  down  again  alive,  and  it  was  but  a 
few  minutes  after  he  reached  the  top  that  a  double- 
headed  shot  cut  him  right  in  half.  Sometimes  the  ships 
would  be  within  musket-shot  of  each  other,  at  other 
times  a  quarter  of  a  mile  apart,  depending  altogether 
upon  the  wind,  which  was  squally;  had  it  been  a  mod- 
erate breeze  we  should  have  got  clear  from  them.  As 
night  came  on  it  began  to  blow  harder,  so  the  captain 
thought  it  best  to  throw  overboard  eight  of  our  guns, 
start  some  of  the  water,  and  clap  the  ship  away  three 
points  free.  This  was  no  sooner  done  than  the  frigate, 
being  right  in  our  wake  and  within  short  distance,  kept 
her  course,  and,  shooting  close  up  under  our  larboard 

1:493 


quarter,  gave  us  four  or  five  double-headed  and  round 
shot.  Some  flew  among  our  rigging  and  one  ball,  strik- 
ing us  abaft  the  fore-chains,  went  through  and  through 
the  ship,  making  her  shake  again.  For  some  minutes 
we  both  lay  quiet,  the  captain  of  the  frigate  ordering 
us  to  "strike  your  d d  rebel  colors,"  which  I,  how- 
ever, think  looked  fully  as  good  as  their  own.  At  this 
time  we  had  no  national  colors,  and  every  ship  had  the 
right,  or  took  it,  to  wear  what  kind  of  fancy  flag  the 
captain  pleased.  Our  flag  I  will  describe,  as  I  think  it 
a  very  singular  one.  First  it  was  a  very  large  white 
flag  with  a  pine-tree,  painted  green  (27),  in  the  middle 
of  it,  and  under  the  tree  the  representation  of  a  large 
snake,  painted  black,  coiled  into  thirteen  coils  and  cut 
into  thirteen  pieces,  emblematical  of  the  thirteen  United 
States;  then  under  that  the  motto  "Join  or  Die"  was 
written  in  large  black  letters. 

During  the  interval  in  which  they  were  damning  our 
flag  and  threatening  to  sink  us,  all  hands  were  called 
aft  to  arm  themselves  with  swords  and  pistols  for 
boarding.  Both  vessels  were  then  under  steerageway 
and  very  near  each  other,  and  as  our  ship  was  to  lee- 
ward of  the  Pomona,  Captain  Manley  intended  to  clap 
the  helm  down  and  so  let  the  frigate  run  her  head  or 
bow  right  amidships  of  us.  In  this  event  the  Cumber- 
land would  have  been  sunk,  and  he  who  got  out  on 
board  the  frigate  first  would  be  best  fellow.  I  presume 
we  would  have  had  a  pretty  tight  scratch  of  it,  for  we 
had  130  picked  men  and  not  a  sick  one  on  board;  I 
looked  upon  us  as  a  match  for  their  300,  and  am  con- 
fident we  would  have  overpowered  them,  taking  them 
as  we  should  have  unexpectedly.  But  the  misfortune 
of  it  was  that,  on  opening  the  arm-chests,  not  more  than 
thirty  cutlasses  and  a  few  miserable  pikes  were  found, 
so  the  captain  gave  it  up  and  ordered  the  colors  to  be 
struck.  This  was  no  sooner  done  than  the  sailors 
rushed  to  the  store-room,  got  out  the  liquor  by  pails- 


>^ 


M 


\>  -v- 


ful,  and  became  as  drunk  as  so  many  devils.  The  regi- 
mental red  coats  of  the  British  soldiers,  which  we  had 
taken  on  our  prize,  were  stowed  away  in  the  bread 
room;  these  also  the  sailors  got  at,  for  all  was  now 
good  plunder,  and  rigged  out  in  them,  some  too  long 
and  some  too  short,  with  shirt  collars  thrown  open, 
tarry  trousers,  and  all  different  manner  of  phizes,  it 
would  have  made  a  saint  laugh  to  see  the  men  tumbling 
about. 

Meanwhile  the  frigate  kept  constantly  hailing  us  to 
hoist  out  our  boat  and  bring  the  captain  on  board, 
threatening  to  sink  us  if  we  did  not  obey;  but  as  all  dis- 
cipline was  now  at  an  end  not  a  sailor  would  get  down 
the  tackles.  At  last  the  petty  officers  made  out  to  lower 
the  small  jolly-boat  and  our  captain  and  two  men  went 
aboard  the  frigate,  but  had  no  sooner  left  their  boat 
than  it  was  dashed  against  the  frigate's  main-chains 
and  stove  to  pieces,  for  the  sea  was  running  very  high 
at  the  time.  The  Pomona  was  obliged  to  get  out  her 
long-boat  to  take  off  our  men,  numbers  of  whom  were 
now  lying  about  the  deck  in  their  long  red  coats,  dead 
drunk.  When  the  British  officer  came  aboard  he  ex- 
claimed: "D your  bloods!     I  believe  you  are  all 

soldiers.     Come,  come,  tumble  into  the  boat  and  be 

d d  to  you!     Bear  a  hand!"     Some  attempted  to 

get  in,  others  were  taken  up  and  thrown  into  the  boat 
like  dead  hogs.  I  could  not  refrain  from  laughing,  for 
I  do  not  think  I  ever  saw  so  funny  a  sight. 

I  tied  up  a  few  pounds  of  chocolate,  a  little  sugar, 
and  some  biscuit  in  a  handkerchief,  put  some  clothes  in 
a  small  bag,  and  jumped  into  the  boat  with  the  rest.  As 
soon  as  we  were  on  board  the  frigate  we  were  mustered 
on  the  quarter-deck  and  the  master-at-arms  was  or- 
dered to  search  us  and  take  away  all  our  knives.  He 
obeyed  his  order  punctually  and  with  precision,  for  he 
took  good  care  to  secure  everything  else  that  we  had 
in  our  pockets.     A  young  midshipman  with  a  very  de- 

1:51] 


mure,  innocent-looking  face  came  up  to  me  and  told 
me  to  give  my  things  into  his  charge,  as  he  would  take 
good  care  of  them  for  me;  he  did  so,  for  I  never  saw 
them  again.  Well,  after  having  been  plundered  of 
everything,  we  were  driven  into  the  lower  hold,  among 
the  cables,  water-casks,  and  the  devil  knows  what,  for  it 
was  as  dark  as  pitch  and  as  hot  as  an  oven.  Here  we 
were  stowed  so  close  that  we  had  no  room  to  stand,  sit, 
or  lie,  except  partly  on  each  other,  for  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  captain,  doctor,  first  and  second  lieutenants, 
and  captain's  clerk,  we  had  all,  officers  and  men,  to  the 
number  of  125,  been  placed  indiscriminately  together. 
The  sailors,  being  for  the  most  part  drunk,  were  soon 
snoring,  but  I  could  not  sleep,  could  in  fact  scarcely 
breathe  owing  to  the  excessive  heat,  as  we  were  now 
in  the  West  India  climate.  Presently  I  ventured  to 
climb  up  a  post  that  had  notches  in  it,  and  sat  down  on 
the  edge  of  the  hatchway,  which  was  open,  to  get  a 
little  air.  I  soon  found  the  sentry  to  be  asleep,  however, 
so  passed  by  him  and,  groping  my  way  to  the  scuttle 
leading  to  the  boatswain's  store-room,  down  I  went. 
As  I  was  descending  I  put  my  foot,  I  presume,  upon  a 
rolled  up  steering-sail,  but  at  the  time  I  thought  it  was  a 
dead  man  and  that  a  number  of  them  had  been  put  there 
so  that  the  funeral  services  might  be  said  over  them  on 
the  morrow,  preparatory  to  launching  them  overboard. 
What  made  me  think  this  was  that  we  had  had  a  fair 
chance  all  day,  at  times,  to  fire  our  stern-chasers  plump 
into  her  forecastle, — in  short,  if  we  had  not  cut  away 
her  rigging  as  we  did,  she  would  have  taken  us  before. 
You  may  imagine  that  I  scampered  up  the  hole  faster 
than  I  went  down  and  resumed  my  seat  on  the  edge 
or  combings  of  the  hatchway,  near  the  sentry  who  was 
still  asleep.  Although  I  knew  that  he  would  drive  me 
down  into  the  hold  again  if  I  woke  him  up,  and  perhaps 
run  his  bayonet  through  me,  I  pitied  him,  knowing  that 
if  caught  asleep  on  his  post  he  would  be  whipped,  re- 


ceiving  from  one  to  two  hundred  lashes,  so  I  ran  the 
risk  and  awakened  him.  The  first  words  he  said  were: 
"For  God's  sake,  go  down  into  the  hold!"  I  begged 
him  to  let  me  sit  there  awhile,  but  he  said  it  was  as  much 
as  his  life  was  worth  to  do  it,  and  that  I  must  go  down, 
so  down  I  went  into  the  oven  again  and  toughed  it  out 
with  the  rest  of  them  without  a  drop  of  water  to  cool  our 
tongues.  Neither  did  we  have  a  drop  until  the  next  day  at 
eleven  o'clock.  Judge  for  yourself  how  dry  and  thirsty 
the  majority  of  our  men  must  have  been,  who  were  so 
confoundedly  drunk  when  first  put  down  into  the  hold. 
The  next  day  was  what  is  called  "banyan-day,"  that 
is,  the  whole  ship's  crew  have  a  pea-soup  without 
meat  for  dinner.  At  eleven  o'clock  they  gave  us 
some  water  to  drink  which  was  slimy  and  stank  as 
badly  as  excrement,  and  at  noon  the  cook,  or  some  other 
devil,  came  to  the  hatchway  with  a  large  tub  of  boiled 
peas,  as  thin  as  water.  At  this  time  as  many  as  could 
get  there  were  crowded  under  the  hatchway  to  get  a 
little  breath  of  air,  so  the  old  fellow,  as  he  lowered  the 
tub  down,  cried  out:  "Hello,  below  there!    Clear  the 

way !    Scaldings,  scaldings,  and  be  d d  to  you,  my 

boys!"  As  soon  as  the  tub  was  down  every  one  who 
could  get  nigh  tried  to  obtain  some  of  the  peas,  but  we 
had  nothing  either  to  put  them  in  or  to  dip  them  out 
with,  so  at  last  they  lent  us  a  tin  pot,  when  we  were  a 
little  better  off.  With  the  peas  they  gave  us  some 
broken  biscuit  full  of  worm  holes,  which  was  in  fact 
the  mere  shadow  of  bread.  As  I  had  nothing  to  get  the 
peas  in  I  took  my  hat,  knocked  the  crown  in  with  my 
fist,  and  receiving  some  of  the  mess  in  the  rude  bowl 
thus  formed,  ate  it  out  with  my  mouth  like  a  hog  when 
it  was  cool.  Thus  were  we  treated  for  three  or  four 
days,  remaining  all  the  while  in  the  ship's  hold,  until  our 
arrival^  in  Barbadoes  harbor  (28),  when  we  were  mus- 
tered on  deck  to  be  transported  ashore. 

*  January  29,  1779. 

[53] 


When  we  were  landed  and  were  going  up  to  the 
prison,^  the  negro  slaves  were  permitted  to  throw  stones 
at  us;  which  they  did,  saying:  "There  goes  the  New 
Gengelan  (England)  men  that  used  to  fetch  fish  here 
for  us  with  one  eye,"  meaning  split  mackerel;  for  when 
herrings  were  dealt  out  to  them  they  received  a  whole 
one,  but  they  never  had  more  than  half  a  mackerel  at 
a  time,  as  they  were  a  larger  fish.  We  were  now  con- 
ducted into  the  prison  yard,  which  was  surrounded  by 
walls  on  the  top  of  which  had  been  placed  broken  bot- 
tles mixed  with  mortar,  to  prevent  any  person  get- 
ting over.  Here  we  were  kept,  under  a  hot  sun,  from 
noon  until  sundown,  when  they  told  us  we  must  all  go 
down  into  the  dungeon.  This  we  did  although  we  had  not 
received  a  mouthful  to  eat  during  the  whole  day.  Some 
Spanish  and  French  prisoners  whom  they  had,  were  per- 
mitted to  be  kept  in  the  upper  rooms,  but  as  we  were 
called  "rebels"  they  chose  to  punish  us  more  severely. 

Our  dungeon  consisted  of  three  apartments  connected 
together,  the  floors  of  which  were  nothing  but  mud 
and  clay,  and,  on  account  of  the  heavy  rains  prevalent 
in  the  West  Indies,  the  water  had  settled  in  the  center 
of  these  to  the  depth  of  two  inches.  Every  part  of  the 
place  was  at  times  wet  and  damp,  yet  here  on  the 
ground  we  were  obliged  to  lie,  having  been  robbed  of 
everything  except  what  we  had  on  our  backs.  We  had 
nothing  to  eat  until  the  next  day,  when  each  man  re- 
ceived some  meat  and  three  potatoes,  though  my 
share  of  the  former  article  I  could  have  swallowed  in 
two  mouthfuls.  No  bread  was  furnished  us,  nor  do 
I  recollect  that  they  gave  us  a  particle  during  the  five 
months  we  were  kept  on  the  island. 

^  The  common  jail  at  Bridgetown,  in  which  prisoners  of  war 
were  confined,  was  destroyed  in  the  hurricane  of  October  lO,  1780. 
The  Government  had  made  no  provision  for  maintaining  the  pris- 
oners, and  the  governor  of  the  island,  the  Honorable  Edward  Hay, 
advanced  considerable  sums  for  their  support. 

[54] 


An  amusing  circumstance  occurred  when  we  were 
first  put  in  the  dungeon,  which  I  will  now  relate.  We 
had  among  us  a  boatswain  whose  name  was  Jack  Brady ; 
he  was  a  very  cross,  severe  man  when  on  board,  and 
as  he  would  often  strike  the  seamen  unnecessarily,  they 
owed  him  a  grudge.  When  we  had  all  fairly  got  down 
into  the  place,  which  was  as  dark  as  pitch,  one  fellow 
called  out  for  Jack  Brady,  and  as  soon  as  he  answered 
to  his  name,  some  one  knocked  him  down,  which  pres- 
ently brought  on  a  general  battle,  for  he  would  strike 
out  indiscriminately.  Thus,  keeping  it  up  and  passing 
the  blows  round,  they  would  knock  each  other  over  into 
the  water  until,  what  with  bloody  noses,  mud,  and  clay, 
they  were  besmeared  all  over. 

The  next  day  we  were  all  mustered  out  into  the 
prison  yard  to  undergo  an  examination,  as  they  intended 
to  pick  out  as  many  of  our  fellows  as  they  pleased  and 
put  them  on  board  the  different  men-of-war  then  lying 
in  the  harbor.  The  yard  was  filled  with  people  who 
came  from  curiosity  to  see  the  "rebels,"  for  many  of 
them  were  fools  enough  to  think  we  were  a  different 
kind  of  animal  from  themselves.  (If  we  were  not  we 
must  have  been  miserable  creatures  indeed,  for  the 
Creoles,  as  they  are  called,  are  a  poor  set  of  shabby 
fellows;  I  mean  the  lower  class.)  As  we  had  been  in- 
formed by  the  turnkeys  that  the  officers  were  coming 
to  distribute  us  through  the  fleet,  five  or  six  of  us  had, 
during  the  night,  tried  to  break  through  the  wall  and 
make  our  escape  into  the  town;  but  just  as  we  had 
nearly  accomplished  our  design,  the  patrol  discovered 
us  and  we  were  obliged  to  stop,  I  then  determined  to 
try  another  scheme  to  prevent  myself  alone  from  being 
taken  away,  for  I  had  rather  have  stayed  where  I  was 
than  go  on  board  a  man-of-war.  When  we  were  called 
out  into  the  yard  on  the  morrow,  such  a  spectacle  as  our 
men  presented  was,  I  presume,  never  seen, — blood  and 
dirt  from  head  to  heels,  some  with  their  eyes  and  some 

[55] 


with  their  noses  swelled  up,  etc.  They  selected  sixty- 
odd  of  us,  myself  among  the  rest,  and  then  drove  us 
all  together  down  into  the  dungeon  again,  saying  they 
meant  to  take  us  away  the  next  day  at  eleven  o'clock. 
On  the  succeeding  day,  at  ten  o'clock,  I  called  to  our 
doctor,  who  had  the  liberty  of  the  yard,  and  told  him  I 
wanted  an  emetic,  which  I  meant  to  take  to  prevent  my 
being  carried  on  board  a  man-of-war.  The  doctor 
had  been  allowed  to  keep  his  medicine-chest,  so  he  got 
me  what  I  wanted,  and  I  took  it,  but  as  it  did  not  work 
readily  and  the  drums  had  begun  to  beat,  I  asked  the 
doctor  for  another  dose.  He  gave  it  to  me  and  I  swal- 
lowed it  immediately.  In  a  few  minutes,  and  just  as  the 
soldiers  who  were  coming  after  us  marched  into  the 
prison  yard,  the  emetic  I  had  taken  began  to  operate.  I 
thought  I  should  have  thrown  up  my  entrails  and  shall 
never  forget  how  sick  I  was.  Two  lackeys  or  turn- 
keys dragged  me  out  of  the  dungeon  and  supported  me 
between  them,  for  I  could  hardly  stand,  while  the  others 
were  driven  out.  As  I  was  very  young  I  had  been 
chosen  by  a  particular  officer  who,  however,  did  not 
now  recognize  me,  and  on  being  told  upon  inquiry  where 
I  was,  he  reprimanded  the  turnkeys  severely  for  their 
usage,  etc.,  and  left  me.  Sixty-odd  of  us  were  taken 
away  and  the  remainder  returned  to  the  dungeon,  where 
for  about  a  month  we  stayed,  starving  in  the  old  way, 
before  anything  material  happened. 

The  captain,  doctor,  lieutenant,  and  captain's  clerk 
were  not  confined  in  the  dungeon,  but  were  allowed 
their  liberty  night  and  day.  In  the  middle  of  the  small 
grate  which  admitted  air  and  a  little  light  to  our  apart- 
ment was  an  ironwood  support,  and  the  doctor  one  eve- 
ning gave  me  a  small  saw  to  remove  this  with.  As  the 
instrument,  however,  had  a  brass  back,  being  such  a 
one  as  is  used  to  take  off  limbs  with,  there  yet  remained 
about  an  inch  only  of  the  wood  which  we  could  not  get 
through  after  sawing  upon  each  side  of  the  post,  and 

C56] 


we  were  therefore  obliged  to  relinquish  our  design  of 
getting  out.  The  plan  was  concocted  by  Captain  Man- 
ley  and  communicated  only  to  a  few  of  us  petty  officers, 
as  it  would  have  been  dangerous  for  the  whole  of  us 
to  attempt  escaping  at  one  time.  The  captain  had  pro- 
cured ropes  and  constructed  a  ladder  to  throw  over  the 
prison  wall,  by  which  means  we  were  to  effect  our  escape 
into  the  town.  Our  part  of  the  plan  failed  as  I  have 
related,  but  Captain  Manley,  the  doctor,  lieutenant, 
and  clerk  succeeded  In  reaching  the  town,  and  although 
a  number  of  men-of-war  and  other  vessels  were  lying 
in  the  harbor,  they  took  a  schooner  and,  running 
through  the  whole  of  them,  got  off  clear.  The  saw  was 
so  thin  that  the  jail  keeper  never  found  out  that  we  had 
attempted  to  make  our  escape,  and  we  were  treated 
pretty  much  In  the  same  old  way;  but  after  a  confine- 
ment of  about  four  months  and  a  half  in  the  dungeon 
they  put  us  into  one  of  the  upper  rooms;  I  think  there 
were  perhaps  sixty  of  us  left  out  of  the  original  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  (29). 

One  night  we  heard  a  great  noise  outside,  and  on 
going  to  the  window  to  look  down  in  the  yard  of  the 
prison  where  the  alarm  drum  was  beating,  we  saw,  as 
it  was  moonlight,  the  whole  place  filled  with  people  of 
all  descriptions.  Of  these  some  were  armed  with  guns 
and  others  with  swords,  clubs,  and  even  spits,  and  they 
all  appeared  to  be  very  courageous  and  ready  to  attack 
poor,  unarmed,  half-starved  prisoners;  it  would  have 
made  you  laugh  to  see  them  and  to  hear  the  threats 
which  they  used  toward  us.  All  this  bustle  and  con- 
fusion, however,  was  occasioned  by  some  thirty  Spanish 
prisoners"  who  were  in  a  room  above  us,  a  quarrel 
among  them  having  ended  in  their  fighting  and  stab- 
bing each  other  with  their  knives.  Mr.  Callender,  the 
prison  keeper,  opened  the  front  door  and  let  the  mob 

"  About  this  time  Don  Pedro  de  San  Jago's  Spanish  Regiment 
of  Aragon  was  here  confined. 


into  the  entry,  or  hall,  which  led  to  our  room.  I  must 
observe  that  the  doors  of  the  rooms  in  the  West  India 
prison  are  not  solid,  but  made  like  a  grate,  with  iron,  so 
as  to  give  air,  the  holes  or  squares  being  big  enough  to 
put  your  head  through.  The  mob,  thinking  we  were 
trying  to  escape,  surrounded  our  door  and,  had  the 
jailer  permitted  them  to  have  got  in,  I  really  believe 
they  would  have  killed  some  of  us. 

Determined  to  sell  our  lives  as  dear  as  possible  we 
prepared  to  meet  them.  We  first  brought  close  up  to 
the  door  a  half-barrel  or  tub  which  had  been  placed  in 
the  room  for  the  accommodation  of  several  of  our  men 
who  were  at  the  time  very  sick,  and  five  or  six  of  us 
stood  ready  with  tin  pots  to  greet  the  enemy  if  they  at- 
tempted to  unlock  the  door.  We  were  likewise  armed 
with  black  or  junk-bottles  which,  holding  by  the  necks, 
we  intended  to  dash  against  the  grated  door  so  that 
the  fragments  would  fly  among  them.  They  saw 
our  warlike  preparations  and  when  we  stirred  up 
our  ammunition,  afraid  of  catching  the  jail-distemper 
and  almost  suffocated,  they  soon  left  the  doorway  clear, 
— we  were  used  to  it,  however,  and  did  not  mind  it.  So 
you  see  these  brave,  daring  fellows  were  fairly  driven 
off  without  even  the  smell  of  gunpowder  or  the  appear- 
ance of  a  single  weapon.  They  then  went  up-stairs 
where  the  Spanish  prisoners  were,  but  dared  not  enter 
the  room,  and  Mr.  Callender  thereupon  opened  our 
door,  after  inquiring  if  we  would  venture  among  the 
combatants  to  quell  them.  Up  we  went,  without  arms, 
and  soon  quieted  them,  and  taking  the  ring-leader,  or 
head  of  the  disturbance,  who  was  then  stabbed  in  the 
breast  with  a  knife,  shut  the  door  and  brought  him 
down.  The  jail  keeper  put  him  in  irons,  hands  and 
feet,  and  placing  a  heavy  chain  around  his  neck,  drew 
his  head  down  close  to  his  feet,  which  brought  him  al- 
most double  like  a  ball,  as  it  were.    He  was  then  thrown 

an 


into  what  they  called  the  "dark  hole," — bad  enough 
you  may  depend. 

A  short  time  after  this  last  event  happened  we  were 
informed  that  a  cartel,  or  vessel  to  release  us,  had  been 
sent  from  Martinique,  a  French  island.  We  were  ac- 
cordingly conducted  on  board,  carried  to  the  Island, 
and  landed  at  Port  St.  Pierre  (30). 

When  put  on  shore  I  had  neither  hat,  coat,  shoes,  nor 
stockings,  and  only  half  a  pair  of  trousers,  half  a  shirt, 
and  about  half  a  pound  of  pork  which  I  carried  in  the 
bosom  of  it.  I  walked  alone  away  from  the  houses 
along  the  beach,  and  pulled  off  my  wardrobe;  washed 
that  first  and  laid  It  on  the  sand  to  dry,  and  then  pro- 
ceeded to  do  the  same  by  my  own  self.  As  I  was  thus 
engaged,  with  my  head  to  the  land,  I  heard  a  voice  hal- 
looing: "Jack!  Jack  Greenwood  !  Here,  my  boy,  come 
out  of  the  water."  I  did  not  at  first  even  look  around, 
supposing  it  was  one  of  my  fellow  prisoners.  As  my 
intention  was  to  enter  on  board  a  French  privateer- 
schooner  which  was  then  lying  In  the  harbor,  I  felt  my- 
self entirely  independent.  (This  I  always  did  feel, 
however,  and  can  safely  say  I  never  have  been  what  is 
called  melancholy  or  dissatisfied,  but  always  took  things 
as  they  came;  good  and  bad,  of  course,  were  the  same 
to  me,  and  are  so  now.)     Well,  I  turned  around  and 

saw  an  old  schoolmate  of  mine,  J.  D e,  who  was 

mate  of  a  Boston  brig  then  lying  in  the  harbor  and 

commanded  by  my  father's  cousin.  Captain  W w.^ 

D e,  who  is  now  captain  of  a  vessel  belonging  to 

this  port  and  resides  here  with  his  family,  soon  con- 
ducted me  on  board  the  brig,  where  I  was  made  wel- 
come.   After  a  few  days,  during  which  time  I  had  been 

"^  Probably  (Isaac)  Winslow;  a  captain  of  this  name  commanded 
in  1777  the  schooner  Anna,  belonging  to  Mr.  Samuel  Pitts,  running 
from  Boston  to  Martinique,  and  the  Newport  Mercury  of  May 
27,  1780,  announces  arrival  of  Captain  Winslow  on  the  20th,  at 
Boston,  in  twenty-two  days  from  Dominica,  a  small  island  between 
Guadeloupe  and  Martinique. 

C59: 


on  and  off  shore  occasionally,  I  was  taken  quite  sick  and 
full  of  pains,  owing,  I  presume,  to  a  different  course  of 
living.  The  doctor  came  on  board  and  bled  me  and, 
with  my  vigorous  constitution,  I  soon  recovered. 

Captain  W w  procured  me  a  passage  homeward, 

to  a  place  called  Plscataway,^  about  sixty  miles  east  of 
Boston,  and  to  defray  my  expenses  In  reaching  the  lat- 
ter place  when  I  should  have  arrived  he  likewise  gave 
me  a  tierce  of  molasses.  I  went  on  board  the  brig 
which  was  commanded  by  one  Captain  Roach  of  Plscat- 
away,  as  big  a  villain  as  ever  I  saw,  and  I  have  had  an 
opportunity  of  seeing  many.  The  vessel  was  very  leaky 
and  badly  provided  with  everything,  sails,  rigging, 
provisions,  etc.,  nevertheless  I  was  glad  of  an  oppor- 
tunity to  reach  home  soon,  for  I  wanted  to  get  at  the 
enemy  again  and  pay  them  off  the  old  score.  On  our 
passage  home  the  pumps  were  kept  going  all  the  time, 
and  this,  together  with  the  working  of  the  vessel,  fairly 
wore  the  men  out,  so  that,  what  with  bad  treatment, 
the  yellow  fever,  and  all  together,  nearly  the  whole 
crew  died.  I  was  pretty  well  seasoned  to  all  manner 
of  complaints,  as  I  had  served  a  good  apprenticeship 
in  the  prison,  and  therefore  I  stood  the  voyage  toler- 
ably well ;  the  want  of  provisions  I  was  used  to  and  did 
not  mind. 

When  off  New  York,  or  rather  the  south  side  of  Long 
Island,  In  latitude  about  forty  degrees  north,  we  were 
espied  one  day  by  a  privateer-sloop.  Our  vessel  had  a 
deep  waist  with  port-holes  for  guns  but  did  not  mount 
any,  so  while  the  enemy  was  chasing  and  reconnoltering 
us,  I  made  five  or  six  wooden  guns  from  some  pieces 
of  joist  by  spiking  them  together  and  roughly  chopping 
Into  shape.  I  then  nailed  a  piece  of  board  on  the  back 
of  them,  opened  the  port-holes,  and  fastened  them  on 
the  inside, — at  a  distance  they  looked  like  guns.  We 
then  got  dirty  blankets  up  into  the  fore  and  maintops 

^  In  the  vicinity  of  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire. 


for  top  armor,  and  nailing  a  piece  of  board  across  some 
handspikes  for  arms,  we  placed  our  jackets  on  them  to 
make  it  appear  as  though  we  had  a  number  of  men  on 
board.  When  cleverly  fixed  we  shortened  sail  and  hove 
our  maintopsail  to  the  mast,  although  there  was  not 
a  gun  on  board  to  my  remembrance.  The  privateer 
then  ventured  to  come  a  little  closer,  though  still  keep- 
ing at  quite  a  respectable  distance,  we  meanwhile  walk- 
ing between  and  passing  our  effigies  or  false  men,  so 
that  at  last  the  enemy  got  afraid  of  us,  hauled  his  wind, 
and  went  off. 

In  a  few  days  we  arrived  at  our  destined  port,  at  a 
time  when  the  famous  Penobscot  expedition  was  fit- 
ting out  from  Boston.  An  officer  from  the  United 
States  ship-of-war  Hampden,^  then  lying  in  the  harbor 
of  Piscataway,  was  soon  alongside  of  our  brig  to  press 
men  for  the  expedition,  but  when  he  came  on  board 
and  found  some  of  our  crew  sick  and  dying,  he  flew 
from  us  like  a  bird  and  left  us.  At  one  time  a  sailor 
who  lay  in  his  hammock  next  to  me  caught  hold  of  my 
left  arm  while  I  was  asleep  and  tore  the  wristband  from 
my  shirt.  I  awoke  and  in  a  moment  dealt  him  such  a 
blow  with  my  right  that  he  let  go, — poor  fellow,  he 
was  dying  but  I  did  not  know  it. 

I  went  on  shore,  sold  my  tierce  of  molasses,  and 
traveled  home  on  foot.  No  emperor  or  king  could  feel 
so  happy  as  I  then  was,  and  there  is  a  good  and  true 
saying  that  no  person  ever  knows  what  happiness  or 
pleasure  is  without  first  seeing  adversity.  Even  in  ad- 
versity there  is  pleasure,  which  exists  chiefly  in  our  dis- 
positions, or  rather  in  the  virtue  of  contentment.     As 

^  The  New  Hampshire  ship  Hampden,  22,  Captain  Salter,  and 
the  Massachusetts  ship  Hunter,  20,  Captain  Brown,  were  the  only 
two  vessels  of  the  expedition  secured,  August  14,  1779,  by  the 
enemy's  squadron  under  Sir  George  Collier.  The  rest  were  all 
burned  or  blown  up  by  the  Americans,  including  the  United  States 
frigate  Warren,  32,  on  which  their  commodore.  Captain  Dudley 
Saltonstall,  had  hoisted  his  striped  flag  and  broad  pennant. 


this  is  not  the  gift  of  every  one,  there  are  many  who 
find  fault  even  with  the  all-bountiful  God,  whereas  did 
they  but  pay  a  little  attention  they  would  quickly  find 
out  that  the  cause  of  all  their  pretended  troubles  lies 
in  themselves  alone.  Whoever  reads  these  lines  which 
I  have  hastily  written  will,  I  hope,  profit  by  them;  learn 
to  be  ever  contented,  as  it  is  always  against  you  to  be 
otherwise,  and  never  be  the  cause  of  awakening  dis- 
content in  others.  Always  suffer  yourself  rather  than 
offend  another ;  this  I  well  know  is,  as  it  were,  an  impos- 
sible thing,  yet  nevertheless  we  may  in  a  measure  miti- 
gate our  faults,  which  it  is  in  the  nature  of  every  one 
to  have, — he  that  is  without  them,  as  the  Scriptures  say, 
let  him  heave  the  first  stone. 


C623 


CHAPTER  V 

Sails  with  Captain  D.  Porter  in  the  Tartar  ; 
many  prizes  taken;  vessel  sinks  at  port-au- 
Prince;  returns  in  the  General  Lincoln, 
Captain  J.  Carnes;  is  captured  and  taken  to 
New  York;  eludes  imprisonment  and  again 
reaches  Boston 

ON  my  arrival  home  I  was  taken  very  111  and  con- 
fined to  my  bed  for  many  days,  but  at  length 
recovered.  As  I  was  naturally  very  active, 
however,  I  could  not  long  content  myself  'while  my 
fellow-countrymen  were  abroad  contending  for  their 
freedom,  so  I  entered  on  board  a  ship  (the  Tartar), 
twenty-eight  double-fortified  6-pounders,  with  a 
crew  of  150  good  fellows,  commanded  by  Captain  D. 
Porter  (31),  of  Boston.  I  served  as  master-at-arms. 
This  was  in  the  month  of  November ;  the  year  I  forget, 
but  I  think  it  must  have  been  1778  or  1779.  We  had 
orders  to  cruise  off  New  York,  but  unfortunately  we 
were  blown  by  a  gale  of  wind  into  the  Gulf  Stream.  The 
wind,  being  at  northeast,  was  directly  against  the  cur- 
rent, thus  making  a  terrible  cross  sea  which  hove  up 
mountains  high.  It  continued  to  blow  six  days  and 
nights  and  the  pumps  were  kept  constantly  at  work, 
for,  with  four  feet  of  water  in  the  hold  and  the  ship 
so  old  and  crazy,  we  expected  to  go  to  the  bottom 
every  moment.     Soon   the  gallows  that  bore  up   the 


spar-deck  gave  way.  I  was  on  the  gangway  trying 
to  support  it,  or  at  least  help  support  it,  when  one  of 
the  spars  struck  me,  and  if  I  had  not  caught  hold  of 
the  gangway  rail,  it  would  have  knocked  me  overboard. 
It  was  at  night,  dark  as  pitch,  and  they  cried  out  that 
I  was  overboard,  but  I  told  them  I  was  safe.  The 
gale  at  last  abated,  and  Captain  Porter,  thinking  our 
ship  was  not  fit  to  cruise  off  New  York  in  the  winter 
season,  concluded  to  go  to  the  West  Indies. 

Off  the  island  of  Jamaica  we  very  soon  took  three 
prizes  and  carried  them  up  to  Port-au-Prince  in  His- 
paniola,  into  which  place,  after  refitting  our  ship  and 
proceeding  to  Jamaica  again,  we  presently  brought 
some  more  prizes.  Our  ship  was  so  old,  crazy,  and 
leaky  that  we  were  obliged  to  nail  strips  of  rawhide 
over  the  seams  of  her  upper  works  in  order  to  keep 
the  oakum  in  place.  For  six  months  we  continued 
cruising  round  the  island  of  Jamaica,  landing  some- 
times twice  a  week,  in  fact  as  often  as  we  felt  inclined 
to  do  so,  to  procure  fresh  provisions  such  as  hogs, 
sheep,  and  poultry.  This  was  in  spite  of  the  great 
vigilance  and  superiority  of  the  British  cruisers,  for 
our  vessel  was  always  disguised  in  such  a  manner  that 
they  could  never  tell  where  we  were,  from  any  infor- 
mation given  them  from  the  shore.  At  times  her  sides 
would  be  painted  black  or  yellow  or  red,  occasionally 
we  would  run  our  guns  in,  strike  the  topgallantmast, 
and  appear  like  a  ship  in  distress ;  and  we  had  a  number 
of  such  manoEUvers  for  deception. 

Our  first  lieutenant  was  Major  P y,^  of  Rhode 

Island,  a  brave,  good-natured  man.  One  night  I  ac- 
companied him  in  our  seven-oared  barge,  going  ashore 
on  the  island  of  Jamaica  for  a  frolic,  as  we  always 
called  it.  There  were  thirteen  of  us  in  the  party,  all 
officers,  and  I  think  of  pretty  good  spunk.     While  the 

^Probably  one  of  the  Perry  family  of  South  Kingston,   Rhode 
Island. 

C643 


ship  lay  to,  a  small  distance  from  the  shore,  we  landed 
and,  leaving  two  of  our  number  to  keep  the  barge  off 
the  surf,  eleven  of  us  proceeded  along  the  shore,  each 
being  armed  with  a  man-of-war  cutlass  and  a  small 
gun.  On  we  sauntered,  passing  several  plantation 
houses  at  some  distance  from  the  water,  until  one  of 
our  party,  S.  Harris,  observed  to  our  lieutenant  that  he 
saw  a  flagstaff,  for  the  moon  shone  as  bright  as  day. 
The  lieutenant  asked  him  if  he  was  afraid;  he  an- 
swered, "Not  at  all.  I  only  mentioned  it  that  you 
might  be  informed."  "Well,"  says  the  lieutenant,  "all 
of  you  sit  down  under  the  bushes  and  I  will  go  and 
see  what  it  is."  We  were  then  about  three  miles  from 
our  boat.  In  half  an  hour  the  lieutenant  returned 
and  informed  us  that  the  place  was  nothing  but  a  small 
fort  with  a  parcel  of  Creoles  or  West  Indians  in  it, 
and  that  there  was  a  brig  lying  in  front  of  it;  if  we 
liked,  he  said,  we  could  take  the  fort  and  cut  out  the 
brig.  This  we  all  agreed  to  do.  "Now,"  says  he,  "be 
careful  and  don't  fire  until  you  get  right  in  amongst 
them;  then  fire,  draw  your  swords,  and  have  at  them; 
we  will  quick  drive  them  out  of  the  fort." 

On  we  went,  six  of  us  on  one  side  of  the  road  and 
five  on  the  other,  and  when  we  came  up  to  the  fort 
we  rushed  right  into  it.  The  sentry  fired  and  they  all 
ran  out  from  the  back  part  into  a  sugar-cane  field. 
The  fort  mounted  seven  guns  and  had  been  garrisoned 
by  fifty-odd  men.  After  a  few  moments  they  began 
to  fire  their  small  arms  into  the  fort.  Some  of  us 
were  in  the  guard-house  at  the  time,  and  I  observed 
to  the  lieutenant  that  it  would  be  best  to  spike  the 
cannon,  but,  unfortunately,  we  had  nothing  to  do  this 
with.  We  were  in  possession  of  the  place  about  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  when  one.  Bob  Henry,  asked  the 
lieutenant  what  we  were  to  do.  He  answered,  "We 
must  scout  mozzy  and  run  fezer!"  ^  that  is,  we  must 

^This  seems  like  the  phonetic  rendering  of  a  Dutch  phrase. 

n65] 


get  to  the  boat  as  quick  and  as  well  as  we  could.  So 
we  all  started  and  ran,  the  enemy  flanking  us  in  the 
bushes.  These  soon  served  as  a  place  of  concealment 
for  Jack  Taylor,  an  Englishman  who  had  given  out, 
and  then  for  Sam  Harris,  a  Bostonian  who  gave  out 
and  hid  himself.  At  last  we  reached  our  boat 
and  in  we  tumbled,  but  just  as  the  last  fellow  was 
getting  in  a  ball  struck  him  in  the  neck.  However, 
we  quickly  rowed  to  the  ship,  made  sail,  and  stood 
off.  The  way  we  came  to  know  how  many  were  in  the 
fort  was  that  Sam  Harris,  in  about  four  or  five  weeks, 
got  clear  from  them  and  came  up  to  Port-au-Prince, 
where  our  rendezvous  was.  He  told  us  there  were 
fifty-odd  men  in  the  fort,  who,  from  the  noise  we  made, 
took  us  for  Spaniards  from  the  island  of  Cuba,  and 
had  run  out  thinking  there  were  at  least  200  of  us. 
When  they  found  out  we  were  but  eleven  in  all,  they 
were  astonished  at  our  boldness. 

At  length  while  cruising  about  we  saw  a  small 
schooner,  and  giving  chase  came  up  with  and  took 
her.  She  proved  to  be  a  pirate  mounting  swivels  on  the 
combings  of  her  hatchways — a  Spaniard  from  the 
island  of  Cuba.  The  crew  was  taken  out  and  we 
manned  her  ourselves,  I  being  appointed  second  in 
command.  With  the  schooner  we  went  near  the  shore, 
behind  a  cape  or  point  of  land  not  far  from  a  place 
called,  I  think.  Black  River,  in  the  island  of  Jamaica, 
while  our  ship  kept  off  some  distance  with  British 
colors  flying.  As  the  drogers  came  round  the  point 
and  saw  us  they  would  haul  off  to  our  ship  for  protec- 
tion, thinking  it  was  an  English  vessel,  so  that  in  a 
few  days  we  took  eleven  sail  of  vessels,  brigs,  sloops, 
and  one  ship  of  eighteen  guns  (32),  and  carried  them 
all  into  Port-au-Prince.  We  made  about  thirty  prizes 
during  the  whole  cruise.  We  concluded  finally  to  fit 
our  ship  at  Port-au-Prince,  run  down  once  more  to 
Jamaica,  cruise  a  little  while,  and  then  go  home  through 


the  Gulf  Stream  between  the  island  of  Cuba  and  Cape 
Florida.  Early  one  morning,  however,  as  we  were 
coming  out  of  the  Bight  of  Logan  (Leogane)  and 
nearly  up  with  Cape  Tibaroone  (Tiburon),  we  saw 
three  ships-of-war  which  were  sent  from  Jamaica  to 
take  us.  I  must  here  observe  that  our  ship  sailed  very 
fast,  for  we  had  been  frequently  chased  by  a  superior 
force  which  could  not  overtake  us.  As  soon  as  the 
ships  were  discovered  to  be  men-of-war,  we  wore  ship 
and  stood  back  for  Port-au-Prince,  but  they  brought 
the  sea  breeze  in  with  them  and  began  to  come  up 
with  us  very  fast,  so  that  we  were  obliged  to  run  into 
a  small  place  called  Petit  Goave.  As  we  went  in  our 
ship  struck  on  the  rocks  and  began  to  leak  so  badly 
that  in  a  short  time  there  were  four  feet  of  water  in 
the  hold.  Meanwhile  the  fort  on  shore  commenced 
firing  on  the  English  ships,  thus  keeping  them  off  at 
a  distance,  and  they,  seeing  us  among  the  rocks,  finally 
quitted  us  and  went  off.  We  got  our  ship  safely  off 
and  went  up  to  Port-au-Prince,  but  were  there  only  a 
short  time  when  she  sank  to  the  bottom  and  was  lost, 
the  crew  being  obliged  to  shift  for  themselves  as  well 
as  they  could. 

For  my  part  I  got  on  board  a  letter-of-marque  brig 
(the  General  Lincoln)  bound  for  Salem  in  the  State  of 
Massachusetts,  commanded  by  Captain  (John)  Carnes 
(33).  She  mounted  six  guns,  6-pounders,  and  took  on 
board  nine  of  our  men,  so  that  in  all  her  crew  I  think 
we  had  about  twenty-five.  As  the  vessel  leaked  very 
much  I,  being  handy  with  tools,  was  often  employed  in 
rigging  and  leathering  the  pump-boxes,  so  they  called 
me  carpenter.  When  we  had  got  into  latitude  about 
2,S°  N.,  or  somewheres  off  the  capes  of  Philadelphia, 
we  saw  a  ship  in  chase  of  us  called  the  Iris,^  of  about 

^  This  vessel,  one  of  the  fastest  in  the  British  navy,  was  for- 
merly the  Continental  frigate  Hancock,  32,  Captain  John  Manley, 
captured  July  8,  1777. 

C67] 


twenty  guns.  Our  brig  sailed  very  well,  but  at  length 
the  frigate  came  so  near  that  we  could  fire  at  her  with 
our  stern-chaser,  and  at  it  we  went.  After  a  while 
she  ranged  up  alongside  and  we  were  ordered  to  strike 
the  rebel  flag  or  they  would  sink  us,  so  the  flag  was 
struck  and,  our  boat  not  being  fit  for  service,  they 
hoisted  out  their  own  boat  and  came  on  board.    Every 

one  of  us  was  taken  off;  "Not  a  d d  rebel  shall 

stay  on  board!"  they  said,  the  reason  being  that  they 
had  taken  an  American  privateer  and  one  or  two  of 
her  crew,  left  on  board,  had  blown  up  themselves,  the 
prize-crew,  and  the  vessel  all  together.  However, 
when  they  found  the  brig  leaked  very  much  and  heard 
there  was  a  carpenter,  as  they  called  me,  on  board,  I 
was  returned  to  the  vessel  to  repair  the  pumps,  etc. 
These  I  forthwith  began  to  make  myself  very  busy  in 
examining,  for  I  would  rather  be  on  board  the  prize 
than  stowed  away  in  the  hold  of  a  ship-of-war,  treated 
like  a  dog  or  ten  times  worse.  In  a  few  days  we  ar- 
rived together  at  New  York;  the  ship-of-war  dropped 
her  anchor  abreast  the  Battery  and  we  went  up  the 
East  River  and  dropped  our  anchor  abreast  the  Fly 
Market,^  near  what  they  called  the  Commissary's 
Wharf. 

As  soon  as  the  anchor  was  down  arrangements  were 
made  for  hauling  the  brig  in,  and  for  this  purpose 
warps  or  ropes  were  carried  to  the  wharf,  which  at 
this  time  was  crowded  with  people  from  the  market 
who  had  come  to  look  at  the  rebel  prize.  Just  as  the 
brig  was  within  ten  yards  of  the  wharf  a  boat  from 
the  Iris  came  alongside  with  an  oflicer  who  had  been 
sent  after  me,  for  they  thought  I  was  a  real  carpenter. 
As  he  came  on  deck  he  inquired  where  the  carpenter 
of  the  brig  was;  I  stood  near  him  and  answered  im- 

*  This  market,  from  the  Dutch  word  "Vlaie,"  meadow  or  valley, 
was  at  the  end  of  Maiden  Lane,  and  was  the  most  important  one 
in  the  city. 


mediately,  "Here,  sir!"  "Well,  my  lad,"  says  he,  "get 
your  duds  (meaning  clothes)  and  jump  into  the  boat 
alongside."  I  answered  with  a  seemingly  good  will, 
"Yes,  sir!"  and  seeing  that  I  appeared  very  willing, 
he  took  no  further  notice  of  me  but  went  into  the 
cabin  and  sat  down  with  the  prize-master,  who  began 
to  treat  him  with  some  of  our  captain's  cordials, 
brought  from  the  West  Indies.  I,  while  they  were 
talking  and  drinking  right  in  sight,  took  my  quadrant, 
a  large  book  called  a  "Quarter-Waggoner,"  my  clothes, 
and  a  mattress  stuffed  with  cotton,  and,  dallying  a 
little,  stood  ready  to  make  my  escape  from  them  when 
the  brig  was  just  by  the  wharf.  My  plan  was  this:  I 
knew  that  as  soon  as  the  brig  touched  she  would  be 
filled  with  people  to  see  the  rebel  prize,  as  I  presume 
there  were  not  less  than  200  on  the  wharf.  It  happened 
just  as  I  expected;  they  jumped  on  board  and  I,  seiz- 
ing the  opportunity,  crowded  in  between  them,  stepped 
ashore,  and  got  clear,  unseen  by  the  man-of-war's 
men,  and  leaving  the  lieutenant  to  find  me  if  he  could. 
I  walked  moderately  along  Water  Street  as  far  as 
Burling  Slip,  then  turned  to  the  left  into  Queen  (now 
Pearl)  Street,  and  went  up  Golden  Hill  (now  John 
Street).  The  first  place  I  stopped  at  was  Mr.  Turk's,^ 
the  turner's  shop  in  Nassau  Street,  the  only  person 
I  had  any  knowledge  of  in  New  York,  as  I  thought. 
The  way  I  came  to  know  him  was  that  he  made  a  set  of 
fifes  for  our  regiment  when  I  was  a  fife-major.  He 
asked  me  where  I  came  from;  I  told  him  from 
the  West  Indies  and  evaded  every  other  ques- 
tion as  well  as  I  could,  as  I  found  he  was  on 
the  British  side;  nevertheless  he  was  a  good  man, 
or    one    whom     I    should    call     a    timid,    peaceable 

^  Ahasuerus  Turk,  Jr.,  instrument  maker,  a  freeman  of  the  city, 
October  i,  1765,  headed  his  craft  in  the  Federal  Procession  of 
July  23,  1788,  and  was  living,  1796,  at  36  Nassau  Street.  He  was 
a  turner  and  musical  instrument  maker. 

1:693 


person.  I  then  recalled  that  there  was  a  per- 
son in  New  York  by  the  name  of  Hill,^  the  king's 
head  baker,  and  that  he  was  a  friend  of  my  father, 
who  favored  the  English.  I  inquired  of  Mr.  Turk 
if  he  knew  Mr.  Hill.  He  said  he  did  and  that  he 
lived  near  by  in  King  (now  Pine)  Street,  next  door 
to  the  French  Church.  Off  I  started  in  search  and 
found  him  standing  at  the  door,  dressed  in  his  red 
coat.  I  knew  his  face  immediately  and  accosted  him 
with,  "How  do  you  do,  Mr.  Hill?"  "Who  are  you?" 
was  his  answer,  for  he  did  not  recognize  me.  I  told 
him  my  name  was  Greenwood.  "Oho!"  says  he,  "you 
are  my  friend  Greenwood's  rebel  son  John."  "Sir," 
said  I,  "I  am  your  friend's  son  John.  Will  you  be 
so  kind  as  to  let  me  stay  a  few  days  in  your  house, 
as  I  have  no  home  nor  a  farthing  of  money  in  my 
pocket?"  He  asked  where  I  came  from;  I  told  him, 
evading  his  questions  as  I  had  done  before  with  Mr. 
Turk,  so  that  he  could  not  tell  whether  I  belonged  to 
the  British  side  or  not.  I  was  acquainted  with  his 
son  John  and  his  daughters,  and  in  a  few  days,  after 
I  had  got  familiar  with  them  and  found  I  could  talk 
freely,  I  informed  him  how  I  had  made  my  escape 
from  the  English,  etc.  It  startled  him  at  first,  but  he 
soon  got  reconciled  and  proposed  contriving  some  way 
that  I  might  get  home.  He  first  said  I  had  better  enter 
on  board  a  merchantman  in  the  British  service,  but  I 
told  him  I  could  not  think  of  such  a  thing.  As  luck 
would  have  it  there  was  a  man  who  lived  in  Little  Queen 
(now  Cedar)  Street,  a  chaplain  in  the  army  and  an  ac- 
quaintance of  my  father  and  Mr.  Hill,  and  between  the 

•^  Twenty  barrels  of  flour  were  found  in  William  Hill's  bake- 
house after  the  British  had  evacuated  Boston  in  March,  1776; 
he  went  to  Halifax,  joined  the  army,  and  appears  to  have  come 
back  with  the  English  to  New  York,  eventually  settling  at  Shel- 
burne.  Nova  Scotia.  Francis  Hill  sold  provisions,  flour,  etc.,  at 
22  King  Street,  next  house  to  Governor  Franklin's,  as  per  Riving- 
ton's  Gazette,  the  French  Church  being  No.  20  on  the  same  street 

1:703 


two  they  made  out  to  have  me  returned  a  prisoner  of 
war  to  the  commissary  of  prisoners,  Mr.  Sproat(34). 
I  must  here  remark  what  a  situation  I  was  in  whilst 
living  in  New  York,  which  was  about  six  weeks.  As 
I  observed  before,  I  had  no  money,  but  my  mattress 
being  stuffed  with  cotton,  which  was  then  scarce,  I 
thought  I  could  get  something  for  it,  and  accordingly 
carried  it  to  Mr.  Watkeys  (35),  the  tallow-chandler 
who  lived  opposite  the  New  Church  in  Nassau  Street, 
being  the  same  man  who  was  burnt  out.  He  bought 
of  me,  though  what  he  gave  I  cannot  recollect,  but 
presume  as  much  as  it  was  worth,  for  I  always  thought 
him  an  honest  man.  However,  let  it  be  more  or  let 
It  be  less,  it  was  all  I  had  to  buy  my  little  notions  with, 
and  I  stood  in  need  of  money,  being  sick  and  weak 
for  more  than  a  fortnight  before  I  was  permitted  to 
go  home.  There  was  a  cartel  bound  for  New  London 
lying  in  the  East  River,  and  on  board  of  her  I  was 
allowed  to  go  and  scrabble  with  the  rest  of  the  prison- 
ers as  well  as  I  could.  Arriving  in  a  few  days,  I  sold 
my  quadrant  for  eight  or  ten  dollars,  and  then  had  to 
travel  home  on  foot  to  Boston. 


1:713 


CHAPTER  VI 

Again  sails  with  Captain  Porter,  on  the  Juror  J, 
AND  later  on  the  Rjce  Horse,  Captain  N. 
Thayer;  carries  a  prize  brig  into  Tobago; 
buys  a  schooner,  trades  on  the  chesapeake, 

AND  IS  TAKEN  BY  JOE  WaLEN's  GALLEY  REFENGE; 
RECOVERS  HIS  SCHOONER  AND  REACHES  BALTIMORE 
WITH  THE  PRIZE-CREW 

I  WAS  taken  very  ill  for  a  few  weeks  and  was  con- 
fined to  the  house,  but  had  no  sooner  recovered 
when  I  started  on  a  letter-of-marque  ship  (the 
Aurora)  of  sixteen  guns,  bound  to  Port-au-Prince  in 
the  island  of  Hispaniola,  and  commanded  by  my  for- 
mer captain,  David  Porter.  We  arrived  safe,^  unloaded 
our  vessel,  and  while  taking  on  a  cargo  of  sugar  bound 
for  Old  France  a  heavy  squall  came,  fairly  upset  our 
ship,  and  she  sank  to  the  bottom.  I  was  at  the  time 
in  a  very  dangerous  situation,  for  I  had  been  taken  sick 
a  few  hours  before,  and,  being  an  officer,  my  hammock 
had  been  slung  under  the  half-deck,  directly  over  one 

^  On  the  voyage  down  Captain  Porter  overhauled  the  wreck 
of  the  64-gun  ship  Stirling  Castle,  dismantled  in  the  late  hurricane 
of  October  10,  off  Cape  Nicola  Mole,  only  four  men  remaining  alive 
on  board,  all  the  rest  of  her  large  crew  having  perished.  Under 
Captain  Carkett  this  vessel,  in  Sir  George  B.  Rodney's  fleet,  had 
led  the  line  on  the  starboard  tack  in  the  fight  of  April  17,  1780, 
with  the  Count  de  Ginchen.     {Massachusetts  Spy,  December  21, 

1780.) 


of  the  guns.  The  doctor  having  given  me  some  medi- 
cine I  had  gone  to  sleep,  when  a  great  noise  on  deck 
awakened  me.  I  asked  a  tailor  who  sat  at  work  near 
by  me  what  was  the  matter,  but  the  same  moment  the 
ship  rolled  her  gun-ports  nearly  under  on  the  side  op- 
posite to  where  I  lay,  and  as  I  saw  this  I  caught  hold 
of  the  side  gun-bolts  and  got  through  the  port-hole. 
As  she  lay  on  her  beam-ends  the  men,  to  save  them- 
selves, ran  out  on  the  masts,  which  kept  her  down  and 
allowed  the  water  to  pour  into  the  hatchways  like  a  tor- 
rent and  with  a  noise  of  thunder,  so  that  she  soon  went 
down  in  the  middle  of  the  harbor.  We  were  sur- 
rounded by  numerous  boats  which  had  collected,  on 
seeing  the  accident,  to  pick  the  men  up,  but  numbers 
were  left  swimming  for  their  lives.  Eight  men  were 
in  the  hold;  some  got  out  and  some  were  drowned. 
In  about  a  fortnight  we  raised  her,  again  loaded  her, 
and  went  to  L'Orient  in  France,  returning  from  there 
to  Boston. - 

After  that  I  went  as  second  mate  on  a  letter-of- 
marque  brig  out  of  Boston,  commanded  by  Captain 
T r(36),  mounting  six  guns  and  bound  to  To- 
bago^ in  the  West  Indies.  One  night  during  our  pas- 
sage, being  on  deck  in  what  is  called  the  morning 
watch,  I  saw  a  sail  bearing  down  on  us,  evidently 
with  the  intention  of  speaking.  I  let  her  come  pretty 
close  as  she  appeared  to  be  in  distress,  and  then  went 
down  into  the  cabin  to  awaken  the  captain  and  tell  him 
that  we  had  a  prize  nearly  alongside.  He  was  so 
frightened  that  he  jumped  out  of  his  berth,  undressed 

as  he  was,  and  said,  "D n  it!  do  you  want  to  be 

taken  prisoner  again?    Order  the  yards  to  be  squared 

2  The  Aurora  left  L'Orient  April  24,  and  reached  Boston  May 
20,   1781. 

^  The  island  of  Tobago  was  surrendered  to  a  French  fleet  by 
Lieutenant-Governor  Fergusson,  June  2,  1781,  and  was  not  re- 
taken by  the  English  till  April  14,  1793. 

[173  3 


and  run  away  from  her !"  He  actually  had  the  yards 
squared  and  stood  away,  when,  finding  that  our  vessel 
could  outsail  her,  he  ordered  us  to  brace  up  and 
haul  our  wind.  In  a  short  time  we  were  alongside, 
when  the  strange  vessel  hoisted  English  colors  and 
then  struck  them  without  our  having  occasion  to  fire 
a  single  gun.  She  proved  to  be  a  brig  bound  from 
Rhode  Island  to  Turks  Islands  for  a  load  of  salt,  and 
had  been  captured  by  the  British  sloop-of-war  Hornet,'^ 
but  the  English  officer,  put  on  board  as  prize-master, 
was  so  ignorant  of  navigation  that  he  did  not  know 
where  he  was,  and  had  so  long  been  looking  for  the 
island  of  Barbadoes  that  there  was  not  a  mouthful 
of  bread  remaining  on  board.  "Well,"  says  my  cap- 
tain, "since  you  have  found  the  prize,  you  must  com- 
mand her  and  carry  her  to  the  port  we  are  bound  to." 
I  told  him  I  had  no  objections  and  that  I  would  take 
her  to  any  friendly  port  he  pleased;  so  he  gave  me  five 
men  and  I  went  on  board  and  took  the  command. 

The  captain's  brig  sailing  faster  than  mine  and 
night  coming  on,  we  lost  sight  of  him,  but  I  still 
kept  on  my  course  after  him,  and  about  midnight  we 
espied  a  vessel  close  aboard  of  us.  As  good  luck  would 
have  it  there  was  a  very  large  man-of-war's  trumpet 
on  board,  and  the  brig  was  provided  with  one  large 
swivel-gun  mounted  on  one  of  the  timber-heads  for- 
ward. The  latter  I  ordered  to  be  loaded  with  a  strong 
charge  and  two  balls,  and  then  went  forward  and 
hailed  them,  ordering  them  to  heave  to  directly  or  I 
would  sink  them.  It  was  so  dark  they  could  not  see 
what  we  were  and  made  no  answer,  so  I  then  ordered 
Russel  to  fire  the  gun  at  them.  He  took  a  brand's 
end  out  of  the  caboose  and  fired  her;  she  made  a  noise 
equal  to  a  4-pounder  and,  splitting  the  timber-head 
she  was  fastened  to  all  to  pieces,  flew  clear  across  the 
deck.     No  sooner  was  this  done  than  the  vessel  made 

*  Hornet,  fourteen  guns,  commanded  by  Francis  Tinsley. 

[74: 


sail  from  us  as  fast  as  she  could,  and  I  got  clear  of 
her. 

The  next  day,  about  ten  o'clock,  I  saw  a  sail  ahead 
which  proved  to  be  our  brig,  and  when  we  were  come 
up  with  her  the  captain  said  he  thought  we  had  been 
taken,  for  he  was  chased  by  a  privateer.  I  told  him 
that  I  had  frightened  the  privateer  away,  presuming 
it  was  the  same  one  that  had  reconnoitered  us,  and 
when  I  showed  him  the  timber-head  split  to  pieces, 
he  laughed  heartily  at  such  a  caper. 

In  a  few  days  we  arrived  at  Tobago,  discharged  our 
cargo,  sold  our  prize,  reloaded  the  brig,  and  proceeded 
on  our  voyage,  bound  to  Baltimore  and  from  there 
back  to  Boston.  As  I  did  not  like,  however,  to  sail 
with  such  a  captain,  who  was  afraid  of  his  own  shadow, 
and  as,  from  the  voyage  having  been  altered  to  return 
to  the  West  Indies,  I  was  at  liberty  to  go  with  him  or 
not,  as  I  pleased,  I  quitted  him.  I  had  plenty  of  money 
and  accordingly  proposed  to  the  first  mate  (whose 
name  was  Myrick)  that,  as  he  also  did  not  like  the 
captain,  we  should  leave  together  and  purchase  be- 
tween us  a  small  schooner  to  carry  freight  to  different 
ports  on  the   Chesapeake  Bay. 

A  schooner  of  about  forty  tons  burthen  was  accord- 
ingly procured,  of  which  I  owned  two  thirds,  so  that  we 
were  both  captains.  We  hired  one  man  to  go  with  us, 
and  the  freight  that  offered  was  a  load  of  Indian  corn. 
We  took  it  in  but,  not  being  acquainted  with  that  arti- 
cle, never  "chined  the  ceiling,"  that  is,  stopped  the 
cracks  to  prevent  the  corn  from  getting  to  the  pumps. 
This  corn  we  were  to  carry  to  some  iron-works  at  a 
place  called  Elkridge-Landing,  up  a  river  of  which 
I  now  forget  the  name,^  and  we  were  directed  to  fol- 
low another  schooner  which  was  going  in  company 
with  us.  The  latter  set  off,  but  as  our  keg  had  no 
water  in  it  I  had  to  go  and  fill  it.    This  I  did,  but  on 

^  The  Patapsco  River,  nine  miles  southwest  of  Baltimore. 

1:753 


returning  stopped  to  get  a  pint  of  porter  and  stayed 
rather  too  long,  so  that  the  schooner  got  out  of  sight. 
My  partner  began  to  swear  and  said,  "How  shall  we 
find  the  place?"  I  told  him  by  looking  after  it;  that 
as  we  had  the  name  of  the  place,  that  was  enough. 
So  I  set  sail,  stood  out  of  the  basin,  and  proceeded  on. 
After  we  had  gone  some  distance  out  I  saw  a  boat 
and  made  toward  her,  proposing  to  my  partner  that 
we  should  ask  where  the  place  was  we  were  bound  to. 

"No,"  says  he,  "I'll  be  d d  if  I  do !"    "Well,"  said 

I,  "how  shall  we  find  it,  then?"  He  was  a  complete 
seaman  and  could  not  bear  to  ask  such  a  question, 
"All  right,"  I  said,  "then  I  will  ask."  When  we  told 
them  our  situation,  they  politely  gave  us  every  neces- 
sary information,  and  away  we  went  in  search  of  our 
port,  and  at  last  entered  and  proceeded  up  the  river. 
Night  coming  on  a  monstrous  storm  arose,  and  it  be- 
gan to  blow  from  the  northeast  with  rain,  thunder,  and 
lightning,  but  as  it  was  a  fair  wind  we  carried  sail 
to  it  haphazard.  Pretty  soon  we  could  not  see  except 
it  was  by  the  assistance  of  the  sharp  flashes  of  light- 
ning, and  at  last  the  river  became  winding  and  crooked 
and  our  vessel  ran  aground,  plump  on  a  sand-point, 
hard  and  fast.  We  had  a  very  small,  flat-bottomed 
boat  made  of  boards,  not  much  bigger  than  a  coffin, 
into  the  stern  of  which  I  took  the  anchor,  placed 
some  coils  of  the  cable  in  the  bow,  and  then  shoved 
the  boat  out  astern,  so  as  to  try  and  haul  the  schooner 
off  the  same  way  she  got  on.  When  I  went  toward 
the  anchor,  however,  to  pitch  it  over,  the  boat,  by  rea- 
son of  the  additional  weight  in  this  portion  of  it,  sank 
and  turned  me  into  the  water;  but  being  a  good  swim- 
mer I  did  not  mind  it,  and  soon  got  on  board  the 
schooner  again  with  the  boat  safe.  By  the  help  of 
the  lightning  we  saw  a  house  on  shore,  about  a  mile 
distant,  so  I  took  the  boat  and  proceeded  to  procure 
assistance,  but  the  wind  blew  so  hard  I  could  not  get 


off  to  our  vessel  again  before  morning,  by  which  time 
the  storm  had  abated.  As  it  cleared  away,  to  my  great 
satisfaction  I  saw  that  the  schooner  had  swung  off  the 
point  and  was  riding  by  the  stern-anchor.  I  went  on 
board,  found  my  partner  asleep  and  many  things  afloat 
in  the  cabin,  for  the  vessel  leaked,  and  the  pumps  being 
choked  with  corn  he  could  not  relieve  her.  Elkridge- 
Landing  being  but  a  few  miles  distant  from  where 
we  ran  ashore,  we  soon  got  there,  discharged  our 
freight,  and  returned  to  Baltimore.  Myrick  said  he 
would  rather  make  a  West  India  voyage  than  take 
another  such  trip,  so  sold  his  part  of  the  schooner  to 

one  Mr.  W b,  of  Fell's  Point,  Baltimore. 

We  then  took  in  a  freight  of  rigging  and  other 
articles  to  carry  down  to  the  Piankatank  River,^  which 
is  near  the  Rappahannock.  At  this  time^  the  army 
of  Cornwallis  (37)  laid  below  at  Yorktown,  We  ar- 
rived safe,  discharged  our  freight,  and  took  in  some 
oats  for  Baltimore;  we  had  likewise  seven  passengers 
who  were  sutlers,  or  rum-sellers,  to  General  Washing- 
ton's army  and  had  considerable  money  with  them. 
It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  on  a  Sunday  that  we  made 
sail  out  of  the  river,  and  the  wind  and  tide  being  ahead 
we  concluded  to  drop  anchor.  My  passengers,  and  my 
partner  too,  being  nearly  drunk,  all  went  down  into 
the  cabin  to  sleep  and  left  the  man  we  had  hired  and 
myself  on  deck  to  take  care  of  the  vessel.  As  soon 
as  the  tide  turned  we  hauled  up  the  anchor  and,  mak- 
ing sail  from  the  mouth  of  the  river,  stood  out  into 
the  bay,  the  wind  still  being  ahead.  After  we  had 
made  a  good  stretch  into  the  bay  I  hove  her  about 
and  stood  in  for  Rappahannock  Point.     On  this  point 

®  Stingray  Point  ran  out  between  the  Rappahannock  on  the  north 
and  the  Piankatank  on  the  south.  Off  the  mouth  of  the  latter 
river  was  Gwynn's  Island,  and  at  the  entrance  of  the  Rappa- 
hannock, on  the  north  side,  was  Windmill  Point. 

^  About  October,  1781. 

1:773 


there  are  a  number  of  dead  pine-trees,  and  close  Into 
the  land  at  the  time  there  laid  at  anchor  two  English 
galleys  which  we  did  not  see  as  they  were  behind  a 
schooner  laden  with  tar  which  they  had  taken.  One 
of  these  galleys  was  rowed  with  thirty-two  oars  and 
had  sixty-odd  men  on  board,  and  the  other  rowed  with 
twelve  or  fourteen  oars  and  had  about  twenty-five  or 
thirty  men.  As  I  thought  all  was  safe  I  called  up  my 
partner  and  desired  him  to  take  the  helm,  for  I  was 
sleepy;  then  I  wrapped  myself  up  In  my  greatcoat  and 
went  down  Into  the  hold  to  sleep  on  the  oats.  The 
hatchway  was  open  and  It  was  apparently  but  a  few 
minutes  before  I  heard  a  great  noise  on  deck  with  cut- 
lasses and  swords.  I  thought  at  first  It  was  my  pas- 
sengers playing,  as  I  had  some  swords  on  board,  so  I 
halloed  out  to  them  to  be  still.  Immediately  a  fellow 
leaped  down  Into  the  hold,  gave  me  a  stroke  or  two 
with  his  sword,  and  bade  me  jump  up  on  deck.  The 
first  person  I  saw  on  coming  out  of  the  hold  was  one 
I  knew  as  well  as  my  brother;  his  name  was  Mont- 
gomery^ and  he  used  to  live  with  Mr.  Turk,  the  turner, 
In  New  York.  "Why,  Montgomery,"  said  I  to  him, 
In  my  confusion  not  seeing  the  English  flag  flying,  "are 
you  among  these  pirates?"  No  sooner  had  I  made  the 
observation  than  the  captain  of  the  large  galley  (called 
the  Revenge ) ,  whose  name  was  Walen  (38)  or  Waley, 
a  tall,  slim,  gallous-looking  fellow  In  his  shirt-sleeves, 
with  a  gold-laced  jacket  on  that  he  had  robbed  from 
some  old  trooper  on  the  eastern  shore,  made  answer, 
"Sir,  I  win  let  you  know  that  I  have  as  good  a  com- 
mission as  any  seventy-four  In  his  Britannic  Majesty's 
service!"  I  told  him  that  I  had  found  out  I  was  mis- 
taken, but  had  thought  at  first  It  was  one  of  our  own 
galleys  from  Annapolis  who  would  at  times  board  and 

^Archibald  Montgomery  in  June,  1783,  was  among  the  New 
York  refugees  for  Nova  Scotia.  (Sabine's  "American  Loyalists.") 
See  note,  page  70. 


1 


plunder  our  own  vessels.  After  telling  him  that  it 
was  the  fortune  of  war,  etc.,  and  that  I  hoped  he  would 
let  me  have  my  clothes,  he  said  I  should  be  allowed 
to  retain  them. 

The  sun  was  now  about  half  an  hour  high.  My 
passengers  were  ordered  to  get  into  the  large  galley, 
but  my  partner,  abusing  the  captain,  was  put  in  irons 
and  sent  into  the  stern  of  the  small  galley  under  the 
care  of  a  negro;  all  the  other  men  were  taken  out  of 
her.  An  Irishman,  one  of  the  passengers,  and  I  were 
left  on  the  schooner,  and  the  captain  of  the  small 
galley  and  nine  (seven?)  others,  including  Mont- 
gomery, were  placed  on  board  to  manage  her.  The 
captain  last  mentioned  was  a  mulatto  named  George, 
six  feet  high  and  formerly,  as  I  afterward  understood, 
a  slave  to  Colonel  Fitzhugh  of  Virginia.''  George's  gal- 
ley was  now  fastened  with  her  grappling  in  our  stern- 
sheets,  and  left  for  us  to  tow  along,  while  Walen,  as 
it  was  by  this  time  fairly  dark,  muffled  his  oars  and 
prepared  to  go  up  the  Piankatank  River  to  rob  one  Mr. 
Gwynn,  where  we  had  deposited  our  freight,  among 
which  was  a  hogshead  of  rum. 

After  giving  orders  for  us  to  go  to  Gwynn's  Island 
and  there  come  to  an  anchor  and  wait  for  him,  Walen 
set  out  and  accomplished  his  design.  The  wind  at  this 
time  had  shifted  and  blew  fair  for  Baltimore,  and  in 
beating  about  to  fetch  Gwynn's  Island,  we  struck  on  a 
place  called  Stingray  Point,  came  to  an  anchor,  and 
waited  till  next  morning.  At  daylight  a  droger,  laden 
with  tobacco,  was  seen  standing  alongshore,  and  our 
anchor  was  immediately  taken  up  and  sail  set  for  the 
pursuit,  the  refugees  meanwhile  firing  at  her  as  the  chase 

^  Colonel  William  Fitzhugh,  of  Maryland,  aged  and  blind,  lived 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Patuxent  River,  about  half  a  mile  from 
the  shore;  his  son  Peregrine  was  recommended  by  General  Wash- 
ington, in  October,  1778,  as  a  cornet  in  Colonel  George  Baylor's 
troop. 

1:79: 


passed  by  within  musket-shot.  When  it  was  found  im- 
possible to  overtake  the  droger  with  the  small  galley 
in  tow,  Captain  George  ordered  my  partner  on  board 
the  schooner  and,  placing  another  man  in  the  galley,  left 
her  at  anchor  and  renewed  the  chase.  By  this  time 
the  large  galley  was  also  in  sight,  making  after  the 
droger  and  near  enough  to  fire  at  her  the  6-pound 
cannon  which  she  had  in  her  bow.  It  was  without 
effect,  however,  so  we  gave  over  the  chase  and  hauled 
our  wind  so  as  to  take  the  galley  in  tow  again  when  we 
came  up  with  her.  Captain  George  now  ordered  three 
more  men  on  board  the  latter,  making  five  in  all,  who 
were  set  at  work  cleaning  the  muskets,  of  which  some 
would  not  go  off  when  they  were  firing  at  the  droger. 
We  then  started  in  to  join  the  large  galley,  which  was 
about  six  miles  off  and  running  for  Gwynn's  Island. 

My  partner,   W b,   the   Irishman,   and   myself 

now  agreed  to  retake  the  schooner,  although  each  of 
the  four  men  left  upon  her  was  armed  with  a  pair  of 
pistols,  a  sword,  and  gun.  Moreover  the  small  galley 
was  again  close  in  tow  with  her  grapnel  in  our  stern- 
sheets.  Our  plan  was  to  persuade  the  captain  that 
there  was  money  hidden  in  the  cabin;  this  was  done 
forthwith,  and  down  he  went  in  search  of  it.  There 
now  remained  on  deck  Montgomery,  a  person  at  the 
helm  steering,  and  a  man  by  the  foremast.  As  I  stood 
by  the  cabin  door  I  called  Montgomery  to  me  and, 
as  he  came  near,  seized  him  by  the  collar,  tripped  him 
with  my  foot,  and  pitched  him  into  the  cabin.  At  the 
same  time  my  partner  caught  up  the  cutlass  which  the 
man  at  the  helm  had  carelessly  laid  on  the  stern-sheets, 
and  running  forward  struck  down  the  man  there.  The 
helmsman  now  cried  out,  "Hein!  hein!"  which  was  all 

he  had  time  to  say,  for  W b  was  aft  again  in  an 

instant  with  his  cutlass  raised,  just  going  to  strike  him 
on  the  head.  At  the  first  alarm  the  man  had  hauled 
out  the  tiller  and  made  a  stroke  at  me,  but  it  missed 


and  dropped  out  of  his  hand,  and,  seeing  no  chance  of 
safety,  the  fellow  in  a  moment  jumped  over  the  stern 
of  the  vessel  into  the  water.  As  the  man  could  not 
swim  I  suppose  he  drowned;  I  saw  him  struggling,  but 
had  too  much  business  to  attend  to  just  then  to  pay  any 
regard  to  him,  for  the  galley  men  in  our  wake  began 
to  fire  at  us  as  fast  as  they  could  load  their  guns.  Our 
schooner  was  then  all  in  the  wind,  in  sight  of  the  large 
galley,  and  dropping  astern  and  foul  of  the  smaller 
one.  I  told  my  partner  to  run  forward  and  bear  off 
the  jib  to  wear  or  fetch  the  schooner  around,  so  that 
we  might  put  her  head  toward  Baltimore;  this  he  did 
while  I  was  casting  off  the  main-sheet,  which  was  close 
hauled.  At  this  time  the  galley  in  tow  was  so  near 
that  I  could  have  jumped  on  board  her,  and  the  fire 
of  the  muskets  almost  burned  my  hair,  but  they  were 
such  bad  marksmen  that  they  did  not  hit  either  of  us. 
Meanwhile  I  had  entirely  forgotten  the  grapnel  in  our 
stern-sheets,  but  when  my  partner  desired  me  to  heave 
it  overboard,  I  took  it  up  and  threw  it  over,  exclaiming, 
"There,  my  boys,  you  have  got  your  galley  all  to  your- 
selves !"  At  the  same  time  they  were  firing  right  at  me, 
shouting,  "Fire  at  that  fellow  with  a  greatcoat  on !" 

Up  we  went  toward  Baltimore,  without  a  drop  of 
water  or  any  provisions  on  board,  for  the  refugees  had 
devoured  everything  we  had.  Captain  George  and 
Montgomery  being  in  the  cabin,  the  next  thing  was  what 
should  we  do  with  them.  I  said  it  would  be  best  to  let 
the  latter  come  on  deck,  go  forward,  and  dress  the 
wound  on  the  shoulder-bone  which  my  partner  had 
dealt  the  man  there.  I  accordingly  opened  the  top 
of  the  companion  and  told  him  to  come  up,  bringing 
his  sword  and  pistols  and  likewise  those  of  the  captain. 
As  we  had  ourselves  the  pair  of  pistols  taken  from  the 
wounded  man,  we  stood  in  little  fear  of  the  other  two. 
Montgomery  came  up  trembling  like  a  leaf,  for  he  was 
a  great  coward  and  I  presume  never  fired  a  gun  in  war 

US'] 


during  his  lifetime.  The  refugees  in  general  were  a 
set  of  gallows-marked  rascals,  fit  for  nothing  but 
thieves;  hell-hounds  and  plunderers  from  inoffensive, 
unarmed  people,  they  seemed  to  be  without  any  kind  of 
principle,  and  I  honestly  believe  that  ten  honest,  re- 
ligious, determined  men  could  intimidate  or  drive  a 
hundred  such  vile  villains.  Their  whole  object  was 
plunder,  and  they  paid  no  manner  of  regard  to  the 
vessel  they  despoiled,  be  it  loyal  or  otherwise;  gain  was 
all  they  sought,  and  to  acquire  from  others  what  they 
were,  through  mere  laziness,  unable  to  acquire  for 
themselves. 

Well  we  got  clear  of  the  rascals,  but  were  chased 
by  the  large  galley  for  some  time.  I  then  ordered 
the  famous  Captain  George  to  come  on  deck.  He 
was  very  humble  and  said,  "Master,  I  hope  you  will 
not  kill  me."  I  told  him  I  would  not  if  he  behaved 
himself  in  a  proper  manner,  but  that  if  he  even  at- 
tempted to  make  a  wry  face  I  would  certainly  put  him 
to  death;  never  was  a  poor  devil  more  submissive. 
As  the  large  galley  was  now  in  chase  of  us  I  told 
George,  who  I  knew  was  a  good  steersman,  to  take 
the  helm,  adding  that  if  either  through  accident  or 
design  he  jibed  the  vessel,  I  would  that  instant  kill 
him.  He  was  much  frightened,  however,  and  kept  a 
bright  lookout  to  avoid  such  a  catastrophe.  We  were 
now  wing  and  wing,  that  is,  right  before  the  wind, 
and  those  in  the  large  galley,  finding  we  outsailed  them, 
gave  over  the  chase  and  made  for  Gwynn's  Island, 
telling  the  prisoners  who  were  there  put  on  shore 
that  had  we  been  overtaken  they  would  have  massacred 
us.  I  really  believe  they  would  have  done  it  too, 
for  Captain  Walen  appeared  to  me  to  be  as  great  a 
villain  as  ever  was  unhung.  All  such  characters  in  their 
employ  the  British  seemed  to  encourage,  as  they  were 
not  twopence  better  themselves.  Read  their  history 
and  you  will  be  satisfied  of  it  if  you  are  an  honest  man. 


After  many  difficulties,  such  as  starvation,  being  very 
thirsty  and  dry,  running  Smith's  Point  and  among  the 
Tangier  Islands,  we  arrived  safe  at  Baltimore.  On 
the  route  we  were  again  attacked  by  another  pirate, 
as  I  call  them,  the  Chesapeake  Bay  being  at  that  time, 
when  the  army  of  Cornwallis  was  at  Yorktown,  in- 
fested by  innumerable  picaroons,  barges,  galleys,  and 
small  privateers;  it  was  a  great  chance  that  we  escaped 
the  villains. 

As  soon  as  we  touched  the  wharf  and  the  people 
learned  that  we  had  been  taken  and  had  recaptured 
our  vessel,  they  came  on  board,  took  out  the  prisoners, 
and,  carrying  them  up  to  a  blacksmith's  shop,  there  had 
them  put  in  irons.  Poor  devils !  I  pitied  them,  for 
they  then  had  got  into  the  hands  of  cowards,  or  of 
a  mob,  which  is  always  brave  when  there  is  no  danger. 
I  remonstrated  against  the  usage  they  gave,  told 
them  the  men  were  prisoners  of  war  and  that,  as  it 
was  impossible  for  them  to  escape,  there  was  no  use 
of  putting  them  in  irons;  that  as  to  punishing  them 
there  was  no  necessity  of  that,  for  they  had  received 
punishment  already  in  being  made  prisoners.  The 
cowards  called  me  a  tory  and  said  I  had  nothing  to  do 
with  them,  so  I  left  the  prisoners  in  the  hands  of 
those  brave  Baltimoreans  who  had  not  at  that  time 
one  ship-of-war  or  privateer  out  on  the  whole  Chesa- 
peake Bay,  when  we  New  England  men  had  hundreds 
cruising  against  the  common  enemy. 


1^3  1 


CHAPTER  VII 

Makes  two  voyages  to  Saint  Eustatius  in  the 
Baltimore  armed  schooner  Resolution;    on 

SECOND   trip,    when    CAPTAIN,    IS   TAKEN    BY    THE 

FRIGATE  Santa  MargarettA;   prisoner   the 

FOURTH  time  AT  KINGSTON,  JAMAICA;  HOSTILITIES 
CEASING,  HE  REACHES  NeW  YoRK  ON  AN  ENGLISH 
CUTTER  AND  THENCE  RETURNS  HOME 

IT  seemed  to  me  imprudent  to  trust  myself  again 
down  the  bay  trading,  so  I  was  obliged  to  sell  my 
part  of  the  schooner;  if  that  rascal  Walen  could 
have  taken  me  I  should  have  been  killed  without  mercy. 
I  accordingly  stayed  on  shore  awhile  (part  of  the 
years  1781  and  1782)  until  an  opportunity  should 
offer  for  me  to  do  better,  and  at  last  there  was  a 
schooner  fitting  out  for  the  West  Indies,  the  captain 
of  which,  boarding  in  the  same  house  as  I  did,  asked 
me  if  I  would  go  as  his  mate.  I  consented,  not  being 
able  to  do  better,  and  entered  on  board  the  schooner 
Resolution  (39),  which  mounted  six  guns.  The  cap- 
tain was  a  miserable  fellow,  however,  a  Virginian,  not 
naturally  brave  though  a  great  swearer,  so  that  many 
people  would  have  been  led  to  think  he  was  a  fighting 
man  if  they  had  heard  him  talking.  We  set  sail  for 
the  island  of  Saint  Eustatius,^  arrived  safe,  disposed 

^  Saint    Eustatius,    West    Indies,   had   been    surrendered    to   the 
English  by  the  Dutch,  February  3,  1781 ;  toward  the  end  of  the 

[84] 


of  our  cargo  of  flour  at  twenty-five  dollars  per  barrel 
which  cost  in  Baltimore  nine  dollars  and  a  half,  and 
taking  in  salt  at  eighteen  cents  per  pushel,  sold  it  for 
eight  dollars  in  Edenton,  North  Carolina,  into  which 
place  we  were  chased  by  a  Bermuda  privateer,  the 
Jolly  Bacchus. 

The  captain  turning  out  to  be  no  great  things,  the 
owners  discharged  him  and  gave  the  command  of  the 
schooner  to  me,  and,  loading  up  at  Edenton  with  flour, 
bacon,  etc.,  I  again  proceeded  on  for  Saint  Eustatius. 
The  passage  I  meant  to  run  through  laid  between  An- 
tigua and  Saint  Bartholomew,  and  early  one  Sunday 
morning  ( December  i ,  1 78 2  ^ ) ,  as  we  were  approaching 
the  former  island  but  not  yet  in  sight,  the  man  at  the 
helm  told  me  he  saw  a  sail  to  windward  bearing  down 
on  us.  It  was  blowing  very  hard  at  the  time  and  I  had 
the  bonnet  off  my  jib  and  foresail,  two  reefs  out  of  the 
mainsail,  and  was  standing  on  a  wind  to  the  eastward, 
as  I  thought  I  had  not  eastern  enough.  I  soon  per- 
ceived the  vessel  approaching  us  and  ordered  all  hands 
to  make  sail,  took  the  bonnet  and  bent  it  on  the  jib 
and  foresail,  let  out  the  reefs  of  the  mainsail,  and 
clapped  her  away  four  points  free.  She  sailed  like  a 
bird,  but  in  two  or  three  hours  the  pursuing  vessel  came 
up  with  us,  firing,  one  after  another,  seven  shots  at 
us,  and  at  last  got  so  close  that  I  could  see  the  buttons 
on  the  men's  coats.  They  then  got  ready  a  6-pound 
cannon  from  the  quarter  (deck)  loaded  with  grape- 
shot,  and  fired  point-blank  into  us,  cutting  away  our 
jib-sheet  blocks,  forepeak  tie,  and  other  rigging  for- 
ward. This  brought  our  schooner  right  into  the  wind, 
so  close  to  the  ship  that  we  were  very  near  being  run 

year  news  reached  Philadelphia  that  it  had  been  taken,  Novem- 
ber 26,  by  the  French  under  the  Marquis  de  Bouille,  governor 
of  Martinique. 

2  Date  taken  from  log-book  of  the  Santa  Margaretta  in  May, 

1893. 


down,  whereupon  we  struck  our  colors,  and  an  officer 
and  six  men  were  put  in  charge.  The  vessel  proved  to 
be  the  Santa  Margaretta  (40),  a  British  40-gun  ship. 
Captain  Salter,  a  clever  fellow  who,  treating  me  well 
as  a  prisoner,  carried  me  down  to  Port  Royal,  Jamaica. 
Here  I  was  put  on  shore  without  one  farthing  except 
six  guineas  which  I  had  secreted  as  button-moulds  to 
my  coat.  When  I  arrived  at  Kingston  I  got  lodgings 
at  the  sign  of  the  "Gold  Chain  and  Wooden  Leg," 
which  was  the  rendezvous  of  the  ship's  crew. 

I  stayed  there  a  few  weeks  and  then  tried  to  make 
my  escape  with  five  or  six  more  American  masters 
and  mates  of  vessels.  Our  plan  was  to  take  one  of  the 
king's  barges,  then  under  repair,  and  run  across  to  a 
place  called  the  Palisades,  but  unfortunately  when  we 
were  all  prepared  to  carry  out  our  enterprise  the  barge 
was  taken  away.  We  went  down  the  next  day  to  recon- 
noiter  for  another  boat,  but  not  finding  one  that  would 
suit  us,  relinquished  our  project. 

As  I  was  walking  back  to  the  house  I  accidentally 
met  the  sailing-master  of  the  Santa  Margaretta,  who 
asked  me  if  I  wanted  to  go  home.  I  told  him  I  did 
if  I  could  get  an  opportunity.  "Well,"  says  he,  "if 
you  have  a  mind  to  go  by  New  York,  I  can  procure 
you  a  chance."  "Agreed,"  says  I,  "if  you  will  let  me 
take  my  bag  with  me."  He  went  with  me  to  my  lodg- 
ings, where  I  got  my  chest  and  then  went  on  board 
a  British  brig-of-war,  commanded  by  Captain  Nickols'^ 
and  bound  for  New  York.  We  arrived  safe  after 
taking  a  Spanish  prize  in  the  Gulf  Stream,  running 
from  Havana  to  the  Spanish  Main.  The  prize  was 
loaded  with  wines,  sweetmeats,  etc. ;  we  only  plundered 
her  of  what  we  wanted  and  let  her  go. 

On  our  arrival  at  New  York  the  brig  came  to  anchor 
at  a  wharf  near  the  shipyards,  and  Robertson,  a  mid- 

^  Captain  Henry  Nicholls  (41),  of  the  14-gun  cutter  Barracouta, 
a  name  taken  from  the  dreaded  "devil-fish"  of  the  West  Indies. 

CSS] 


shlpman,  and  I  took  a  walk  down  to  Fly  Market  and 
stopped  into  a  porter-house  to  get  a  pint  of  porter. 
There  were  several  persons  in  the  place  sitting  around 
a  stove,  and  next  to  me  was  an  Irishman  reading  a 
newspaper.  I  observed  to  the  latter  that,  as  soon  as  he 
was  done  reading  the  paper,  I  would  be  glad  to  see 
it.  "By  my  soul,  you  are  welcome  to  it,"  said  he.  The 
first  thing  my  eyes  met  was  the  account  of  a  prize  cap- 
tured by  the  very  same  Captain  Walen^  who  had  taken 
me  in  the  Chesapeake  Bay  with  his  galley.  I  forgot 
where  I  was  for  a  moment  and  observed  to  Robertson 
that  I  believed  I  knew  Captain  Walen,  and  asked  if 
he  did  not  command  a  large  galley  that  rowed  with 
thirty-three  oars.  The  Irishman,  who  actually  belonged 
to  her,  made  answer  that  he  believed  I  did  know  Cap- 
tain Walen  very  well,  and  that  he  would  be  very  glad 
to  see  me.  I  told  him  that  I  had  a  brother  who  was 
taken  by  him  some  time  past  in  the  Chesapeake  Bay; 
that  I  looked  very  much  like  my  brother,  but  that  I 
was  In  the  British  service  while  he  was  a  rebel.  "By 
my  soul  you  are  twin  brothers  then,"  said  he,  "for 
I  could  swear  that  you  are  the  man  and  that  you  and 
two  more  retook  the  vessel  after  killing  and  wounding 
some  of  our  men."  I  think  I  heard  that  it  was  said 
we  had  killed  six  of  them,  and  it  is  not  improbable 
that  they  made  such  report,  as  they  are  fond  of  ex- 
aggerating their  accounts.  I  made  out  to  get  clear  of 
them  and  went  down  to  the  brig  in  company  with 
Robertson,  where  Captain  Nickols  paid  me  eight 
dollars.  As  there  was  at  this  time  a  cartel  ready  to 
carry  home  prisoners  of  war,  I  got  on  board  and  set  out 

*  "Yesterday  was  sent  in  here  two  small  schooners,  taken  in  the 
Chesapeake  by  the  Victory j  privateer,  Captain  Wallen."  (Gaines' 
N.   Y.    Gazette   and   Weekly   Mercury,   of    Monday,    March    31, 

1783.) 

"Same  day  (Sunday,  March  30)  arrived  a  small  schooner,  taken 
in  Chesapeake  Bay  by  the  Victory,  privateer,  Captain  Wallen." 
{Rivington's  Gazette,  New  York,  Wednesday,  April  2,   1783.) 

1:873 


once  more  for  New  London,  where  I  arrived  safe  and 
went  on  to  Boston^  (42). 

^  The  king's  proclamation  of  February  14,  for  a  cessation  of  arms, 
was  officially  read  at  the  City  Hall  in  New  York,  April  8,  1783. 


[88] 


ILLUSTRATIVE  NOTES 


ILLUSTRATIVE  NOTES 

Note  i,  Page  3 

The  North  Writing  School  was  located  at  the  cor- 
ner of  North  Bennet  Street  and  Love  Lane,  near 
where  now  stands  the  Eliot  School.  John  Green- 
wood's great-grandfather,  SamuelGreenwood,  had  been 
one  of  a  committee  in  March,  1711  or  171 2,  for  select- 
ing a  site  and  overseeing  the  building  of  it.  At  the 
time  in  question  John  Tileston,  subsequently  called  the 
"venerable,"  though  the  boys,  not  quite  so  respectful, 
used  to  give  him  the  title  of  "old  Johnny  Tileston,"  was 
master,  with  a  salary,  fixed  May  15,  1764,  at  £100. 
The  third  and  fourth  fingers  of  his  right  hand  were 
so  contracted  from  the  effects  of  a  severe  burn  as  to 
form  an  admirable  socket  for  his  ferrule,  or  "hickory 
whig  of  '76,"  as  he  called  it,  for  which  instrument  of 
torture  it  seems  he  had  a  great  partiality.  Years 
after  has  John  Greenwood  pointed  out  to  his  son  on 
Boston  streets  the  approaching  form  of  his  former 
master,  and  then  abruptly  crossed  over  to  the  other 
side  of  the  causeway.  He  used  to  relate  that  many 
a  time  had  some  hungry  urchin  slid  from  his  seat  in 
school  and,  creeping  stealthily  along  beneath  the  forms, 
notified  the  fortunate  possessor  of  a  savory  luncheon 
of  his  presence  by  a  sly  pinch  and  a  whispered  "Hunks ! 
I  smell  cheese,"  when  just  as  the  levied  tribute  was 
about  to  be  paid,  the  quick  eye  of  the  master  would 
discover  the  delinquent,  and  "Come  here,  you  tigera- 

1:913 


bus!"  would  summon  him  to  the  desk  for  condign 
punishment.  On  a  list  of  scholars,  176 1-5,  we  find 
the  name  of  Isaac  Greenwood,  John's  elder  brother. 
Tlleston  died  in  1826,  aged  ninety-two  years,  and 
from  him  Love  Lane  received  its  present  appellation 
of  Tileston  Street. 


Note  2,  Page  4 

William  H.  Montague,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  writing 
July  14,  1859,  to  W.  B.  Trask,  editor  of  the  "New 
England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,"  says: 
"I  was  well  acquainted  with  Dr.  William  Pitt  Green- 
wood from  boyhood.  Taking  a  walk  with  him  on 
Copp's  Hill  and  vicinity  on  the  17th  of  June,  the 
anniversary  of  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill — the  year 
I  do  not  recollect;  it  was  either  1847,  '^  or  '9 — in 
company  with  Mr.  Isaac  Cazneau,  an  Octogenarian 
who  had  lived  in  the  neighborhood  all  his  life,  he 
(Greenwood)  pointed  out  his  father's  residence,  at  that 
time  (1775)  on  the  east  side  of  Salem  Street,  be- 
tween Prince  Street  and  Christ  Church.  He  also 
pointed  out  the  spot,  but  a  few  rods  from  the  house, 
where  a  battalion  of  British  troops  were  quartered, 
and  both  he  and  Mr.  Cazneau  saw  them  march  off 
in  the  morning  of  June  17,  1775,  as  they  said,  'in  high 
feather,'  and  saw  some  of  them  brought  back  wounded 
in  the  afternoon.  They  both  also  remembered  see- 
ing Major  Pitcairn  carried  through  Charter  Street 
mortally  wounded,  though  at  the  time  they  did  not 
know  who  he  was;  his  remains  were  buried  under 
Christ  Church." 

The  steeple  of  this  church  came  down  in  a  gale 
of  wind  in  October,  1804. 

W.  P.  Greenwood,  youngest  brother  of  John  Green- 
wood, died  May  10,  185 1,  on  the  eighty-fifth  anni- 
versary of  his  birth. 

1:923 


Note  3,  Page  4 

The  Boston  Gazette  of  Monday,  March  12,  1770, 
says:  "Mr.  Samuel  Maverick,  a  promising  youth  of 
seventeen  years  of  age,  son  of  the  widow  Maverick, 
and  an  apprentice  to  Mr.  Isaac  Greenwood,  Ivory- 
turner,  mortally  wounded;  a  ball  went  through  his 
belly  and  was  cut  out  at  his  back.  He  died  the  next 
morning."  Mrs.  Mary  Maverick,  who  lived  at  the 
corner  of  Union  Street  and  Salt  Lane,  had  married 
a  son  of  Mr.  John  Maverick,  importer  of  lignum- 
vits  and  other  hard  woods.  (See  Drake's  "Boston," 
p.  781,  etc.;  Sumner's  "East  Boston,"  p.  171.) 

Isaac  Greenwood,  Jr.,  the  elder  brother  of  John 
(and  future  father  of  the  late  Judge  John  Green- 
wood, of  Brooklyn),  was  a  witness  of  the  massacre, 
being  then  in  his  twelfth  year.  Attracted  by  the  ring- 
ing of  bells,  indicating  a  fire,  Maverick  and  Green- 
wood were  proceeding  along  hand  in  hand  when,  in 
King  Street,  Samuel  left  his  companion  and  joined 
in  the  popular  tumult  about  some  soldiers  at  the 
custom-house.  In  the  volley  which  ensued  Maverick 
fell  just  as  he  was  throwing  up  his  arms  and  shouting, 

"Fire  away,  you  d lobster-backs!"     This  epithet 

was  applied  to  the  soldiers  on  account  of  their  red 
coats,  but  more  than  a  century  earlier.  Sir  Arthur 
Hasebrig's  cuirassiers,  in  the  Parliamentary  service, 
were  also  known  as  "lobsters,"  from  their  iron  breast- 
plates. (See  "Diary  of  Henry  Teonge,  Chaplain, 
1675-79,"  London,  1825.) 

Note  4,  Page  4 

Captain  Martin  Gay,  a  brass-founder  of  Boston 
and  one  of  the  fire-wards  in  1769,  was  one  of  the  thir- 
teen lieutenants  of  the  Boston  regiment  in  1761  and 
captain  of  a  company  in  1769.  In  1770  he  was  lieu- 
tenant of  the  Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery  Com- 

1:933 


pany  and  captain  in  1772.  At  this  time  the  company's 
uniform  was  blue  coats,  with  lapels  and  yellow  buttons, 
buff  underclothes,  silk  stockings,  white  linen  spatter- 
dashes, and  gold-laced  cocked  hats;  their  fifers  and 
drummers  were  uniformed  in  white  cloth  coats 
trimmed  with  blue  lapels  and  white  linings,  white  linen 
waistcoats  and  breeches,  and  caps  of  white  cloth  with 
gold  binding.  When  Martin  Gay  was  lieutenant  of 
the  Boston  Artillery  Company,  William  Heath  (after- 
ward a  major-general  in  the  Continental  army)  was 
the  captain,  having  succeeded  Major  Adino  Paddock. 
Captain  Gay  went  to  Nova  Scotia  in  March,  1776, 
and  in  November,  1792,  returned  to  Boston,  where 
he  died,  February  3,  1809,  aged  eighty-two.  He  had 
a  granddaughter,  Mrs.  Mary  (Gay)  Greenwood, 
daughter  of  Samuel  Gay,  who  lived  in  Nova  Scotia. 
Captain  Gay's  portrait  is  given  in  Robert's  "History 
of  the  Artillery  Company,"  Vol.  II. 

Note  5,  Page  5 

Previous  to  the  Revolution  the  only  attempts  to 
use  brick  in  Falmouth  were  in  the  houses  of  John 
Butler  on  King  Street  and  John  Greenwood  on  the 
south  side  of  Middle  Street.  The  latter,  a  three-story 
wooden  building  with  brick  ends  situated  between 
Captain  Pearson's  Lane  and  Fish  Street  (now  Willow 
and  Silver  streets),  was  commenced  in  October,  1774. 
It  escaped  destruction  when  the  town  was  burned  by 
the  British,  October  18,  1775,  and  was  taken  down, 
1855-6,  to  make  room  for  a  large  hotel  erected  by 
the  Hon.  John  M.  Wood,  previous  to  which  event 
several  views  were  taken  of  the  place.  Meetings  of 
the  Falmouth  Lodge,  established  1762,  of  which 
Greenwood  was  a  member,  were  held  at  times  in  the 
house  up  to  1780.  Mr.  Greenwood  sold  out  all  his 
real  estate  previous  to  November,   1784,  after  which 

1:94] 


nothing  further  is  known  of  him.  He  was  married 
in  Trinity  Church,  Boston,  November  2,  1762,  to 
Mercy  Clarke,  who  died,  December  17,  1770,  aged 
twenty-seven  years,  and  was  interred  in  the  south- 
west end  of  the  old  East  Cemetery,  Portland,  where 
her  husband's  mother,  Sarah  (Clarke)  Greenwood, 
widow  of  Professor  Isaac  Greenwood,  was  buried 
toward  the  close  of  May,  1776.  A  small  mahogany 
chest  of  drawers  made  by  John  Greenwood  the  young- 
er while  with  his  uncle  at  Falmouth  is  in  the  writer's 
possession. 

Note  6,  Page  5 

The  third  week  following  this  event  was  a  stirring 
one  in  Falmouth.  On  Monday,  May  8,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Samuel  Thompson,  an  ardent  patriot,  eager 
to  destroy  the  i6-gun  cutter  Canso,  which  lay  off  the 
town  of  Falmouth,  came  down  from  Brunswick  (some 
thirty  miles  to  the  northeast)  with  about  150  men 
from  that  place  and  Topsham.  They  carried  a  green- 
topped  spruce  pole  for  a  standard.  The  expedition 
landed  in  the  Bark  Cove  late  in  the  afternoon,  and  the 
men,  concealing  themselves  in  a  pine  wood  back  of 
the  town  on  the  north  and  east  slope  of  Munjoy's 
Hill,  had  been  able  to  seize  and  make  prisoners  of 
Lieutenant  Henry  Mowat,  the  commander  of  the 
cutter,  his  ship  surgeon,  and  the  Episcopal  minister, 
Mr.  John  Wiswall,  while  the  latter  were  enjoying 
their  customary  exercise  on  the  east  side  of  the  Fal- 
mouth peninsula.  A  message  from  the  vessel  soon 
informed  the  inhabitants  that  their  place  would  be 
laid  in  ashes  if  the  parties  detained  were  not  im- 
mediately released.  The  Falmouth  Cadets  turned 
out,  and  we  may  be  sure  the  little  fifer  was  with  them. 
Mowat  was  brought  up  to  town  by  Thompson  and  his 
men,  where  finally,  after  much  discussion,  he  was 
allowed,  under  parole  and  late  in  the  evening,  to  re- 

n9s] 


turn  to  his  vessel.  Before  morning  Colonel  Phinney's 
minute-men  and  many  of  the  militia  from  Gorham, 
Scarborough,  Cape  Elizabeth,  and  Stroudwater,  in  all 
600  or  more,  were  in  town,  most  of  them  willing  to 
carry  out  Thompson's  scheme.  Heavy  guns,  how- 
ever, were  lacking,  and  finally,  better  counsel  prevail- 
ing. Colonel  Phinney  got  the  militia  in  a  day  or  two 
to  return  homeward.  After  a  while  the  Canso  sailed 
for  Portsmouth,  only  to  return  in  a  few  months,  when, 
with  the  sanction  of  Admiral  Graves,  Mowat  carried 
out  his  former  threat  and  wantonly  fired  the  town. 
Lieutenant  Greenwood's  house  was  saved,  but  he  met 
with  a  loss  of  fi68.  A  contemporary  cosmoramic 
view  of  the  burning  is  given  in  Fiske's  "American 
Revolution,"  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Company's  illus- 
trated edition,  1896,  Vol.  I,  pp.   172-3. 

Note  7,  Page  9 

By  returns  of  January  i,  1776,  Hardy  Pierce,  of 
Boston,  was  second  lieutenant  in  Captain  Ebenezer 
Stevens's  company  of  Colonel  Knox's  regiment  of  ar- 
tillery. The  following  fall  he  was  stationed  at  Fort 
Lee  (formerly  Fort  Constitution)  on  the  Hudson, 
and  was  killed,  November  5,  by  the  premature  dis- 
charge of  a  cannon  while  firing  at  the  enemy's  shipping. 
("American  Archives,"  5th  Series,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  800.) 

Note  8,  Page  9 

The  Rev.  Winwood  Serjeant  was,  at  the  outbreak 
of  the  Revolution,  the  Episcopal  minister  of  Christ 
Church,  Cambridge,  Massachusetts.  He  fled  with  his 
family,  at  first  to  Kingston,  New  Hampshire,  and 
afterward  to  Newbury,  whence  in  1778  he  returned 
to  Bristol,  England.  The  house  in  which  he  lived  at 
the  beginning  of  the  troubles  and  which  was  ransacked 

1:96] 


MARY  (I'ANS)  greenwood, 

Wife  of  Isaac  Greenwood. 


by  the  mob  stood  on  the  Observatory  ground,  nearly 
opposite  to  the  end  of  Linnaean  Street,  but  has  since 
been  removed  to  the  other  side  of  Garden  Street. 
(Hoppin's  "History  of  Christ  Church.") 


Note  9,  Page  10 

Elizabeth  Hale,  second  wife  and  widow  of  Colonel 
Robert  Hale,  of  Beverly,  who  had  participated  in  the 
siege  of  Louisburg  under  Sir  William  Pepperrell  in 
1745.  She  was  the  youngest  daughter  of  the  Hon. 
Dr.  John  Clarke,  of  Boston,  and  was  named  for  her 
aunt,  Elizabeth  Clarke,  second  wife  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Cotton  Mather.  Her  sister  Sarah  married  Professor 
Isaac  Greenwood  of  Harvard  College.  Later  on 
Mrs.  Hale  lived  in  Boston  as  a  member  of  her 
nephew's  (Isaac  Greenwood's)  family,  and  died,  Sep- 
tember 23,  1795,  aged  eighty-nine  years,  leaving  no 
issue. 

Note  10,  Page  ii 

The  marriage  intentions  of  Isaac  Greenwood,  of 
Boston,  and  Mary  Pans  were  recorded  January  21, 
1757.  She  was  born  apparently  in  some  Irish  garrison 
town  in  1725,  and  died  at  Dedham,  Massachusetts, 
October  11,  1820,  aged  ninety-five  years,  having 
survived  her  husband  seventeen  years.  Mrs.  Green- 
wood was  a  staunch  patriot,  full  of  fire  and  wit,  with 
bright,  sparkling  eyes,  a  smiling  countenance,  and 
a  tiny  figure.  One  of  her  two  sisters  married  Robert 
Woolsey,  a  merchant  of  Quebec;  the  other,  Martha, 
was  the  wife  of  Thomas  Walker,^  a  merchant  of  Bos- 
ton who  settled  in  Montreal  soon  after  its  surrender 
to  the  English  (September  8,  1760).  Here  in  the 
discharge  of  his  duties  as  a  justice  of  the  peace  Walker 

^  See  Appendix  B. 

1:973 


aroused  the  enmity  of  some  army  officers,  who  broke 
into  his  town  house  and  brutally  maltreated  him.  He 
received  no  redress  for  this,  however,  even  though 
his  case  was  laid  before  the  king  in  person.  Later 
on  his  sympathies  were  all  with  the  revolted  colonies; 
he  corresponded  with  their  committees  and  prepared 
to  aid  them  with  a  native  Canadian  force.  Colonel 
Arnold's  hasty  line  from  Ticonderoga  and  Ethan 
Allen's  premature  movement  against  the  city  and  his 
sending  messengers  for  help  to  Colonel  Walker  con- 
firmed the  suspicions  of  the  authorities.  His  houses 
in  the  city  and  at  L'Assomption  had  been  both  closely 
watched  and  his  mail  intercepted;  with  the  proof  ob- 
tained his  arrest  was  determined  upon,  and  accordingly 
one  night  his  farm-house  was  attacked  and  fired  by  a 
party  of  native  militia,  and  he  and  his  wife  were 
dragged  down  a  ladder  from  the  burning  building, 
hurried  up  to  town,  and  imprisoned  on  a  charge  of 
high  treason.  The  colonel  was  finally  released  only 
when  the  colonists  took  possession  of  Montreal. 


Note  ii,  Page  13 

The  Americans  did  not  cease  working  on  their  en- 
trenchments until  noon,  and  it  was  three  o'clock  be- 
fore the  British  troops  moved  forward  to  the  at- 
tack. General  Ward,  who  had  reserved  his  own  regi- 
ment with  those  of  Patterson  and  Gardner  and  a 
part  of  Bridge's  for  the  defense  of  Cambridge,  de- 
spatched the  first  three,  late  in  the  afternoon,  to  the 
scene  of  action.  Patterson's  was  stationed  at  Jack 
Tuft's  storehouse,-  nearly  down  to  the  road  leading 
to  Milk  Row.  There  is  record  of  but  one  soldier 
of  the  regiment  wounded  on  this  occasion.  (See  Ap- 
pendix A.) 

^  Afterward  on  Sycamore  Street. 

1:983 


Note  12,  Page  13 

John  Patterson,  son  of  Major  John  Patterson  who 
died  from  yellow  fever  at  the  siege  of  Havana,  Septem- 
ber 5,  1762,  aged  fifty-four  years,  was  born  in  1744 
at  New  Britain,  Connecticut.  A  graduate  in  1762  of 
Yale  College,  he  taught  school,  practised  law,  and  was 
a  justice  of  the  peace  in  his  native  town  until  his  re- 
moval in  1774,  with  his  father-in-law,  Josiah  Lee,  to 
Lenox,  Massachusetts.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Berk- 
shire Congress,  convened  at  Stockbridge,  July  6,  1774, 
and  of  the  first  and  second  Provisional  Congresses  of 
Massachusetts.  Two  regiments  of  minute-men  were 
formed  in  Berkshire  County  at  the  time,  one  under 
John  Patterson,  of  Lenox,  which  was  from  the  northern 
and  middle  parts  of  the  county,  the  other  under  John 
Fellows,  of  Sheffield,  from  the  southern  part  of  the 
county.  News  of  the  affair  at  Lexington  having 
reached  the  Berkshire  Hills,  Patterson's  men  were  on 
their  way  to  Cambridge  at  sunrise  on  April  21,  and 
on  May  27  he  and  his  field  officers  received  their  com- 
missions from  the  Provisional  Congress  for  the  12th 
Massachusetts  Bay  Regiment  of  Foot.  After  the 
arrival  of  General  Washington  this  regiment  became 
the  26th  Regiment  of  Foot  of  the  Army  of  the  United 
Colonies,  and  upon  the  reorganization  of  1776  the 
15th  Regiment  of  Foot.  February  21,  1777,  Colonel 
Patterson  was  appointed  brigadier-general  and  at- 
tached to  the  Northern  Department.  The  command 
of  the  15th  was  given  to  Colonel  Timothy  Bigelow, 
and  on  April  22  the  State  of  Massachusetts  appointed 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Joseph  Vose  as  colonel,  vice 
Colonel  Patterson,  promoted.  On  September  19  a 
portion  of  Patterson's  brigade  took  active  part  in 
the  battle  of  Stillwater  under  General  Gates,  and  was 
present  at  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne.  During  the 
winter  of   1777-8   it  was  encamped   at  Valley  Forge 

l99l 


and  participated,  the  following  June,  in  the  battle  of 
Monmouth.  On  September  29,  1780,  Patterson  was 
one  of  the  fourteen  general  officers  composing  the 
court-martial  at  Tappan,  New  York,  before  which 
Major  Andre  was  arraigned.  During  the  war  Patter- 
son was  the  first  Master  of  a  traveling  lodge  of  free- 
masons^ called  the  "Washington  Lodge,"  which  was 
continued  till  the  close  of  hostilities.  Afterward,  on 
the  outbreak  of  the  Shays's  Rebellion  of  1786,  he 
headed  a  detachment  of  the  Berkshire  militia  which 
was  called  out.  As  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the 
Boston  Company  he  settled,  in  1790,  at  Whelney's 
Point,  in  Union,  Tioga  County  (afterward  known  as 
Lisle,  Broome  County),  in  the  State  of  New  York; 
was  first  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  in 
Tioga  County,  1798,  and  of  Broome  County,  1806; 
a  member  of  Assembly,  1792-3;  of  the  New  York 
Constitutional  Convention  of  1801;  and  a  Represen- 
tative in  Congress,  1803-5.  He  died  July  19,  1808, 
aged  sixty-four  years,  leaving  two  sons  and  several 
daughters. 

Note  13,  Page  13 

The  Rev.  Daniel  Bliss,  of  Concord,  Massachusetts, 
who  died  in  1764,  aged  forty-nine  years,  was  born  in 
Springfield,  Hampden  County,  and  left  four  sons  and 
several  daughters,  of  whom  the  eldest,  Phebe,  married 
the  Rev.  William  Emerson,  of  Concord,  and  was  grand- 

^  By  order  of  the  R.  W.,  William  Burbeck,  Esq.,  Master  holding 
under  the  authority  of  Scotland,  all  Masonic  brethren  (particularly 
those  of  St.  Andrew's  Lodge,  formerly  of  Boston)  were  notified  in 
the  Essex  Gazette,  Salem,  December  21,  1775,  that  the  Feast  of 
St.  John  would  be  celebrated  on  Wednesday,  December  27,  at  the 
Free  Masons  Arms,  Cambridge.  A  general  attendance  was  recom- 
mended. "Table  to  be  elegantly  furnished  by  two  o'clock.  Breth- 
ren to  bring  their  clothing." 

William  Burbeck  was  lieutenant-colonel  of  Knox's  regiment  of 
Continental  artillery. 


mother  of  the  late  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  of  Boston. 
Two  of  the  sons,  Daniel,  a  lawyer  of  Concord,  who  died 
in  1806,  aged  sixty-six  years,  at  Lincoln,  near  Frederic- 
ton,  New  Brunswick,  and  Samuel,  who  died  in  1803  at 
St.  George,  New  Brunswick,  were  loyalists.  The  young- 
est son,  Joseph,  who  had  been  a  lieutenant  in  the 
artillery  company  of  Captain  Winthrop  Sargent, 
Colonel  John  Crane's  regiment,  died  at  Haverhill, 
New  Hampshire,  and  his  daughter,  Louisa,  widow  of 
the  Hon.  Arthur  Livermore,  of  Holderness,  Massa- 
chusetts, corresponded  with  the  writer  in  May,  1859, 
at  which  time  she  was  living  in  Brooklyn,  New  York. 
It  is,  however,  with  the  second  son,  Theodore  Thomas 
Bliss,  born  May  21,  1745,  that  we  are  now  interested. 
He  appears  to  have  settled  in  Boston  as  a  shipwright 
and  was  a  member  of  Fire  Engine  No.  9  before  1768. 
He  was  called  to  the  council  chamber  on  the  night 
of  March  5,  1770,  to  give  evidence  as  to  Captain 
Thomas  Preston's  (of  the  29th  Foot)  "giving  the 
soldiers  orders  to  fire  on  the  inhabitants."  Several 
of  the  depositions  taken  after  that  occurrence  speak 
of  young  Bliss's  interview  with  the  captain  just  be- 
fore the  firing  took  place.  The  "New  England  His- 
torical and  Genealogical  Register,"  Vol.  XLII,  p. 
263,  states  that  a  Captain  Theodore  Bliss  of  the  Ameri- 
can army  married  Elizabeth  Barrett,  born  January 
24,  1747,  and  died  May  29,  1783,  eldest  daughter 
of  Daniel  and  Elizabeth  (Wadsworth)  Barrett. 

About  May,  1775,  Captain  Bliss  appears  to  have 
raised,  for  the  Continental  service,  a  company  of 
men  the  better  part  of  whom,  according  to  a  return 
of  October,  1775,  were  from  Boston,  as  was  he  him- 
self. The  captain  has  been  also  styled  as  "from  Brim- 
field,  Mass.,"  a  small  place  some  seventy  miles  south- 
west of  Boston  and  a  few  miles  north  of  east  from 
Monson.      From    Monson,    on    the    Chicopee    River, 


twenty  miles  east  of  Springfield,  marched,  April  19, 
1775,  the  company  of  Captain  Freeborn  Moulton, 
which  remained  on  service  thirteen  days,  and  of  which 
company  a  "Theodorus  Bliss"  was  one  of  the  privates 
("Archives,"  Secretary  of  State's  Department,  Bos- 
ton) ;  possibly  the  two  names  may  be  identical.  We 
read  too  that  when,  early  in  the  spring  of  1775,  two 
English  officers,  Captain  William  Browne,  of  the  5 2d, 
and  Ensign  Henry  De  Birniere,  of  the  loth,  visited 
Concord  as  spies  for  Governor  Gage,  they  dined  at 
the  house  of  Theodore's  brother^  Daniel  Bliss,  who, 
on  their  remarking  that  the  people  would  not  fight, 
asserted  that  "he  knew  better,  and  pointing  to  his 
brother,  then  passing  in  sight  of  the  house,  replied, 
'There  goes  a  man  who  will  fight  you  in  blood  up  to 
your  knees.'  " 

Captain  Bliss  was  attached  to  Colonel  Patterson's 
regiment  just  before  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  and 
the  history  of  his  company  until  the  termination  of 
the  men's  second  enlistment  in  December,  1776,  is 
contained  in  this  memoir.  That  part  of  the  company 
which  with  the  rest  of  the  detachment  under  Major 
Sherburne  formed  the  relief  for  Major  Butterfield 
and  the  garrison  at  the  Cedars  in  Canada,  surrendered 
May  20,  1776,  to  Captain  Forster^  of  the  British 
army.  An  exchange  of  prisoners  was  agreed  to  one 
week  later  by  Forster  and  General  Arnold,  and 
four  American  captains  were  sent  to  Quebec  as  hos- 
tages for  its  safe  performance;  these  were  Captains 
Ebenezer  Sullivan,  of  Scammon's  Massachusetts  regi- 
ment, Theodore  T.  Bliss,  of  Patterson's  Massa- 
chusetts regiment,  John  Stevens,  of  Burrall's  Connecti- 
cut regiment,  and  Ebenezer  Green,  of  Bedel's  New 
Hampshire  Rangers.  Sherburne's  and  Sullivan's  ac- 
counts of  the  affair  will  be  found  in  Force's  "Ameri- 

^  Harper's  Magazine,  Yol.  L,  p.  780,  December,  1874-May,  1875. 
^  See  Note  22. 

[102;] 


can  Archives,"  4th  Series,  Vol.  VI,  and  In  5th  Series, 
Vol.  I,  p.  1 167,  Is  given  a  letter  from  Captain  Bliss 
to  his  brother-in-law,  the  Rev.  William  Emerson,  dated 
Montreal,  August  4,  1776.  Sullivan  was  exchanged 
In  1778,  Stevens  In  February,  1782,  and  Green  was  on 
parole  to  1779.  Bliss,  released  on  parole,  returned 
to  Philadelphia  by  water  and  reached  the  American 
camp  In  the  vicinity  of  Trenton,  New  Jersey,  just  after 
the  battle  at  that  place  (December,  1776). 

He  enlisted  January  i,  1777,  as  captain  of  Company 
7,  In  Colonel  John  Lamb's  2d  Regiment  of  Artillery, 
New  York  Line,  and  was  probably  the  one  captain  of 
artillery  who,  according  to  Heath's  "Memoirs,"  was 
wounded  June  28,  1778,  at  Monmouth.  The  account 
that  he  was  a  prisoner  and  exchanged  In  December 
is  erroneous.  General  Heath,  writing  to  Generals 
RIedesel  and  Hamilton,  October  28,  1778,  from  head- 
quarters, Boston,  states  that  the  British  troops,  under 
the  Saratoga  Convention,  were  to  leave  for  Virginia 
In  a  few  days,  and  that  as  they  were  so  desirous  that 
Captain  Richard  Masters  of  the  24th  should  go  to 
New  York  with  a  report  for  Sir  H.  Clinton,  he  was 
willing,  provided  he  should  first  go  to  General  Wash- 
ington's headquarters  accompanied  by  Captain  Bliss 
and  paying  the  latter's  expenses.  The  despatches 
were  stopped  at  headquarters  and  forwarded  thence 
by  Washington,  who  Incidentally  consented  that  Mas- 
ters could  be  exchanged  for  Bliss.  This,  however, 
was  not  effected,  as  Bliss  subsequently  attended  Major- 
General  William  Phillips  to  Virginia,  the  latter  writ- 
ing February  28,  1779,  from  Fredericksburg  to  Clin- 
ton, begging  the  captain's  exchange  as  a  particular 
favor. 

It  was  only  a  few  days  before  this  that  Washing- 
ton had  Informed  the  British  commander  of  the  re- 
cent resolve  passed  by  Congress  that  officers  who  had 
broken  their  parole  should  be  returned  to  the  enemy. 


In  May  Bliss  was  ordered  to  New  York,  and  the 
Massachusetts  House  of  Representatives,  upon  his 
petition,  granted  him  a  certain  sum  and  "thirty  pounds 
a  month  to  be  paid  to  his  wife  during  his  detention 
in  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  for  the  better  support  of 
herself  and  family,"  all  such  sums  to  be  charged  to  the 
United  States.  The  following  month,  upon  the  peti- 
tion of  several  officers  of  Colonel  Lamb's  Regiment 
of  Artillery,  "praying  that  they  may  rank  the  same  as 
if  in  one  of  the  fifteen  battalions  raised  by  the  State  of 
Massachusetts,"  the  same  was  granted  only  in  the  case 
of  "Theodore  Bliss,  late  a  captain  in  Colonel  Patterson's 
regiment,"  He  was  evidently  soon  released  and  re- 
turned to  Boston  on  parole,  where  we  read  of  a  pay- 
ment of  fi200  made  to  him  in  July,  1780,  by  the 
Town  Treasurer  for  one  of  the  eleven  horses  pur- 
chased by  Captain  Fellows  for  use  of  the  Continental 
army. 

The  following  notice  appeared  in  the  Continental 
Journal  under  date  of  Boston,  June  28,  1781:  "I 
take  this  method  to  inform  the  public  that  I  despise 
the  scandalous  report  and  likewise  the  ridiculous  au- 
thor of  the  unjust  aspersion  thrown  on  my  character 
in  my  absence;  I  have  always  most  strictly  adhered  to 
my  parole  and  ever  shall  'til  I  am  regularly  exchanged; 
and  as  I  am  not  answerable  for  my  conduct  to  any 
but  my  superior  officers,  and  never  went  to  York  without 
proper  passports,  if  at  any  time  such  as  are  pleased  to 
will  call  upon  me,  they  shall  have  a  satisfactory  answer 
from  their  humble  Servant,  Theodore  Bliss,  Captain 
Artillery." 

In  August,  1782,  he  was  permitted  a  license  as  inn- 
holder  at  his  house  in  Corn  Court,  and  on  June  25, 
1789,  was  married  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Parker  to  his 
second  wife,  Huldah  Delano,  and  was  still  on  the  town 
tax-list  in  1790.  He  had  several  daughters,  one  of 
whom   married,   January    i,    1797,    Captain   William 

[;io4  3 


Cunningham.     Captain  Bliss  died,  intestate,  at  Cam- 
bridge, September  i,  1802,  aged  fifty-eight  years. 

Note  14,  Page  14 

Greenwood  subsequently  describes  the  works  on 
Prospect  Hill  more  particularly.  Patterson's  regi- 
ment, however,  after  the  battle  was  stationed  at  Fort 
No.  3,  which  served  as  a  connecting  link  between  the 
works  on  Prospect  Hill  to  the  northwest  and  the  Cam- 
bridge Lines,  or  No.  2,  which  extended  southwesterly 
from  the  point  where  Broadway  crosses  the  top  of 
Dana  (or  Butler's)  Hill  to  Fort  No.  i  on  the  Charles 
River.  Fort  No.  3,  a  little  outside  of  Cambridge 
bounds,  was  just  south  of  the  main  road  between  Cam- 
bridge and  Charlestown  (Washington  Street,  Somer- 
ville),  and  opposite  the  point  where  it  is  entered  from 
the  north  by  the  old  Charleston  Lane  or  Milk  Row 
Road  (now  Milk  Street,  Somerville).  This  was 
doubtless  the  precise  spot  (Jack  Tuft's  storehouse) 
that  the  regiment  had  occupied  during  the  battle  of 
Bunker  Hill.  (Page's  "History  of  Cambridge," 
etc.)  After  July  22,  1775,  the  American  army  was 
divided  into  three  grand  divisions.  The  central  divi- 
sion and  reserve  at  Cambridge  was  commanded  by 
Major-General  Israel  Putnam,  and  of  this  division 
the  first  brigade,  under  Brigadier-General  William 
Heath  and  encamped  at  Prospect  Hill  and  vicinity, 
consisted  of  the  six  Massachusetts  regiments  of  Patter- 
son at  Fort  No.  3,  Scammon  at  Fort  No.  i,  Prescott 
at  Sewall's  Point,  Heath  at  Fort  No.  2  (in  place  of 
General  Ward),  Gerrish  at  Chelsea,  Maiden,  etc.,  and 
Colonel  Phinney.  The  other  brigade  was  composed 
of  the  regiments  of  Putnam,  Glover,  Frye,  Bridge, 
Sergeant,  and  Woodbridge.  In  the  absence  of  a 
national  ensign  there  floated  over  them,  soon  after, 
the  crimson  standard  of  "Old  Put,"  bearing  the 
emblems  and  motto  of  his  native  colony. 


Note  15,  Page  14 

Some  reminiscences  of  John  Greenwood's  elder  and 
youngest  brothers,  Isaac  and  William  Pitt,  have 
already  been  given  In  Notes  2  and  3.  The  former, 
Isaac  Greenwood,  Jr.,  who  in  1775  advertises  "ladies' 
umbrellas"  for  sale  at  Salem,  also  prepared  an  in- 
teresting memoir  of  his  own  personal  adventures 
during  the  War  of  Independence,  but  his  eldest  son, 
the  late  Hon.  John  Greenwood,  of  Brooklyn,  New 
York,  wrote  me  in  May,  1859,  saying:  "I  regret  the 
memoir  or  journal  to  which  you  refer  has  been  mislaid 
or  abstracted.  I  have  looked  for  it  several  times  in 
vain."  Subsequently  I  found  In  my  library  some  num- 
bers of  a  New  York  magazine  entitled  the  Literary 
Companion,  wherein,  in  August,  1821,  had  been 
published  an  extract  from  the  journal,  signed  with 
the  initials  W.  L.  G.  My  late  father  Immediately 
recognized  the  article  as  an  incident  of  his  uncle's  life 
which  he  had  often  heard  related,  and  the  initials  as 
those  of  a  cousin,  William  Langley  Greenwood.  The 
time  Indicated  was  the  winter  of  178 1-2.  The  writer 
had  received  In  some  engagement  a  severe  saber  cut 
over  the  head  from  which  he  suffered  throughout  his 
whole  life,  and  the  account  presents  an  anachronism 
for  which  due  allowance  must  be  made. 

"I  entered,  at  New  London,  on  board  the  brig  New 
Broom,  a  vessel  mounting  sixteen  guns  and  commanded 
by  one  Bishop,  and  sailed  thence  on  a  cruise  among  the 
West  India  Islands.  After  being  out  about  five  weeks 
the  captain  became  delirious,  and  In  a  few  days  after, 
owing  to  the  misconduct  of  the  first  lieutenant,  we 
were  captured  by  a  British  sloop-of-war  and  carried 
into  St.  John's,  Antigua,  where  we  were  all  put  on 
board  a  prison-ship  which  lay  In  a  cove  on  one  side 
of  the  harbor  where  the  heat  was  so  severe  as  to  be 
almost   Insupportable.      We   were    allowed    here   but 


barely  enough  to  maintain  nature,  and  the  water  they 
gave  us  was  taken  out  of  a  pond  a  little  back  of  the 
town,  in  which  the  cattle  and  negroes  commingled 
every  sort  of  impurity,  and  which  was  rendered  on 
this  account  so  nauseous  that  it  was  impossible  to  drink 
it  without  holding  the  nostrils. 

"I  soon  found  that  life  was  to  be  supported  but  a 
short  time  here,  and  set  myself,  therefore,  about  con- 
triving some  way  to  effect  my  escape  from  this  float- 
ing place  of  misery  and  torment.  The  doctor  came 
on  board  every  morning  to  examine  the  sick,  and  three 
negro  sextons  every  night  to  bury  the  dead. 

"Early  one  morning  I  swallowed  tobacco-juice  and 
was  so  sick  by  the  time  the  doctor  came  that  I  obtained 
without  difficulty  a  permit  from  him  to  go  on  shore 
to  the  hospital.  I  was  soon  ready  to  disembark,  for 
I  had  previously  been  robbed  of  everything  except 
what  I  had  on.  After  arriving  at  the  hospital  I  was 
conducted  into  a  long  room  where  lay  more  than  two 
hundred  of  the  most  miserable  objects  imaginable, 
covered  with  rags  and  vermin.  I  threw  myself  down 
on  a  bunk,  and  after  suffering  extremely  for  some 
time  from  the  effects  of  the  tobacco,  went  to  sleep,  but 
was  soon  waked  by  a  man  nurse,  who  told  me  that 
there  was  a  physic  for  me  and  immediately  went  off 
to  another.  I  contrived,  unperceived,  to  throw  my 
dose  out  of  the  window,  and  was  not  again  disturbed 
except  during  the  following  night,  when  I  was  waked 
several  times  by  the  carrying  out  of  the  dead.  The 
sickness  occasioned  by  the  tobacco  having  now  ceased, 
it  was  still  necessary  to  keep  up  the  deception,  and 
accordingly,  the  next  morning,  I  feigned  lameness. 
The  doctor  told  me  that  my  fever  had  settled  in  my 
legs  and  said  that  I  must  walk  about  the  yard  as 
much  as  I  could.  I  was  extremely  rejoiced  at  this  good 
advice  and  lost  no  time  in  following  it,  hobbling  off 
to  a  row  of  small  buildings  which  were  detached  from 

CIO?  3 


the  hospital  where  I  smelt  the  reviving  flavor  of  soup, 
and  soon  after,  upon  a  bell's  ringing,  I  experienced 
the  indescribable  joy  of  partaking  of  a  bowlful  of  it, 
which  was  served  out  to  those  of  the  sick  who  could  eat. 

"Farther  on  than  this  there  was  another  small  house, 
separate  from  the  others,  where  I  observed  the  nurses 
and  cooks  to  be  coming  in  and  going  out.  I  limped 
up  to  this  place,  stopped  in  front  of  the  house,  and, 
wearing  a  very  doleful  look,  chanced  to  catch  the  at- 
tention of  the  steward  who  lived  there.  'Come  in 
here,  you  Yankee  dog,'  says  he,  'I  like  the  looks  of 
you.'  I  accordingly  went  in  and  sat  down.  He  in- 
quired my  name,  birth,  etc.,  and  we  very  soon  be- 
came familiar.  Our  conversation  was  interrupted  by 
his  being  called  away,  but  he  gave  me  a  general  invita- 
tion to  call  and  see  him,  and  I  called  the  next  day. 
Although  on  this  occasion  he  was  as  sociable  as  he  had 
been  the  day  before,  I  observed  a  melancholy  to  be 
cast  over  his  countenance,  and  plainly  perceived  that 
there  was  something  that  was  to  him  a  source  of 
grief.  From  the  interest  which  he  had  taken  in  my 
situation  I  could  not  but  sympathize  in  his  affliction, 
and  begged  him,  therefore,  to  disclose  to  me  the  cause 
of  it. 

"  'I  can,'  says  he,  'have  no  apprehension  from 
you.  I  am  an  American;  my  father  is  a  refugee  and  is 
now  in  Halifax.  The  pay  I  get  here  don't  half  support 
me  and  I  am  therefore  involved  in  debt;  besides  all, 
I  am  the  father  of  a  child  which  I  must  provide  for  or 
go  to  prison.  I  have  not  the  means  to  do  so,  so  you 
can  perceive  how  unfortunate  my  position  is.  There 
is  no  other  way  for  me  to  avoid  my  difficulties  but  by 
leaving  the  island  in  some  way  or  other.' 

"I  begged  him  to  endeavor  to  take  me  with  him, 
which  he  promised  to  do. 

"  'There  is  a  friend  of  mine.  Captain  King,'  said  he, 
'who  lives  in  town,  and  if  you  are  able  to  walk  I  will 


lend  you  some  clothes  and  we  will  go  to-morrow  and 
see  him,' 

"  'You  will  see,'  rejoined  I,  'whether  I  am  able  or 
not  to  walk,  after  I  get  out  of  the  yard.' 

"The  next  day,  after  he  had  pledged  himself  to 
the  sentinel  for  my  safe  return,  we  went  together  to 
Captain  King's.  The  latter  had  been  formerly  a 
British  naval  officer,  but  from  disaflfection  or  for  some 
other  reason  had  left  the  service.  To  him  the  steward 
revealed  his  situation  and  cast  himself  upon  his  gen- 
erosity. He  told  the  steward  to  call  and  dine  with 
him  the  next  day,  and  bring  with  him  one  or  two  more 
from  among  the  prisoners  who  were  desirous  of  escap- 
ing, and  that  he  would  hit  upon  a  plan  to  assist  us. 

"We  accordingly  went  the  next  day  and  took  with 
us  an  American  prisoner  who  was  employed  as  a  nurse 
in  the  hospital  and  who,  in  the  habit  of  a  sailor, 
carried  the  steward's  clothes.  We  received  a  hearty 
welcome,  dined  and  drank  plentifully  of  Captain  King's 
wine.  After  dinner  he  asked  me  If  I  understood  man- 
aging a  boat  and  knew  the  situation  of  the  islands. 
Upon  my  replying  In  the  affirmative  he  bid  me  come 
up-stairs  with  him  and,  on  entering  the  chamber,  told 
me  to  divest  myself  completely. 

"  'What,'  asked  I,  'are  you  going  to  do  with  me?' 

"  'I  am  going,'  said  he,  'to  metamorphose  you  into 

a  British   officer  of  the  navy;   and   d n  you,'   he 

added,  'don't  flinch.' 

"I  was  accordingly  furnished  by  him  with  a  suit  of 
his  former  uniform  clothes  (a  lieutenant's),  and 
powdered  Inside  and  out.  He  gave  me  also  a  loaded 
pistol  and  one  to  the  steward,  and  put  Into  my  hand 
a  blank  letter,  superscribed  to  one  Major  Thomas 
who  was  navy-agent. 

"  'Go  down  to  King's  Wharf,'  said  he,  '  you  and  the 
steward  walking  together  and  the  sailor  behind  you, 
and  there  agree  with  one  of  the  drogers   (or  packet- 

1:1093 


boats)  to  take  you  on  board  the  Daphne  frigate, 
which  lies  in  St.  John's  Road.  When  you  have  passed 
the  fort  and  he  hauls  his  wind  to  stand  for  the  frigate, 
you  must,  taking  the  letter  out  of  your  pocket,  feign 
great  surprise  and  exclaim  that  you  have  neglected  to 
deliver  it  to  Major  Thomas.  The  captain  of  the  boat 
will  tell  you  directly  (for  they  all  know  him)  that  he 
is  not  in  town  but  has  gone  down  to  his  estate  at  Five 
Islands  on  the  west  coast.  You  must  then  agree  with 
him  to  carry  you  there,  for  you  must  see  him  as  the 
vessel  can't  go  to  sea  without  bread.  After  you  arrive 
abreast  of  Five  Islands,  your  escape  must  depend 
upon  yourselves.  You  must  take  possession  of  the 
vessel  and  carry  her  into  Montserrat  or  Saint  Chris- 
topher's,*^ of  both  which  islands  the  French  are  now 
in  possession,  and  then  you  are  safe.' 

"We  showered  many  blessings  upon  the  captain  and, 
bidding  him  farewell,  followed  the  directions  he  had 
given  us.  All,  however,  had  like  to  have  been  de- 
tected, in  which  case  we  must  have  been  either  hung 
or  shot.  Being  under  the  effects  of  the  wine  and  also 
much  elated  with  my  new  rigging,  I  made  an  unusual 
blustering  on  the  wharf,  where  we  were  surrounded 
by  real  navy  officers.     Some  of  them  observed  that  I 

made  a  d d  noise!    'I  think  so,'  says  another;  'who 

the  devil  is  he?'  But  while  they  were  thus  comment- 
ing the  captain  of  the  packet-boat  pushed  off  and  we 
got  clear  of  them. 

"The  sloop  was  manned  with  five  stout  negroes  and 
a  white  captain.  We  succeeded  in  obtaining  posses- 
sion of  her  and  arrived  the  next  day  at  Montserrat, 
which  was  thirty  miles  to  the  southwest,  where  we  re- 
ported ourselves   to  the  commanding  officer   and  re- 

•^  St.  Kitt's  was  taken  on  the  12th  and  Montserrat  on  the  22d  of 
February,  1782.  Hon.  Matthew  Fortescue  was  appointed  captain, 
May  24,  1782,  of  the  Daphne,  twenty  guns,  and  was  on  the  home 
service  in  January,  1783. 

["°3 


malned  a  few  days.  Thence  we  sailed,  under  con- 
voy of  a  French  armed  schooner  (a  national  vessel) 
for  Guadeloupe,  where  we  soon  arrived  and  whence 
we  set  out  for  the  United  States  in  an  American 
ship.  This  was  not,  however,  without  having  first 
suffered  much  from  the  treachery  of  the  French  cap- 
tain, who,  on  his  arrival  at  Basseterre  on  this  island, 
the  port  to  which  we  were  bound,  went  on  shore  and 
reported  us  as  an  English  prize  and  had  us  conveyed 
by  a  guard  of  soldiers  to  jail.  On  our  way  thither 
the  street  was  illuminated  and  the  soldiers,  exulting, 
brutally  pricked  us  with  their  bayonets.  We  were 
there  confined,  but  on  the  next  day  the  perfidy  of  the 
captain  was  brought  to  light  through  the  exertions  of 
a  friend  of  the  steward's,  to  whom  the  latter  contrived 
to  make  known  his  situation,  and  who  went  to  the  gov- 
ernor and  disclosed  the  whole  transaction.  A  court 
of  inquiry  was  held;  we  were  released  and  the  French 
captain  committed  for  a  trial  by  court-martial." 

As  to  Captain  Bishop  of  New  London,  who  com- 
manded the  Neiv  Broom  and  to  whom  reference  is 
made  at  the  commencement  of  the  account,  I  find  by 
the  Connecticut  Gazette,  published  in  New  London, 
that  his  name  was  Israel  Bishop.  The  first  advertise- 
ment relative  to  the  privateer-brigantine  New  Broom 
is  dated  Wethersfield,  July  25,  1778,  at  which  time 
she  was  lying  in  the  Connecticut  River,  and  was  to 
sail  from  New  London,  toward  September,  on  a 
cruise  off  Sandy  Hook,  etc.  She  was  taken  in  Boston 
Bay  and  brought  into  New  York,  October  27,  by  the 
British  sloop-of-war  Ariel,  20,  Captain  Thomas 
Mackenzie.  Bishop  was  probably  soon  exchanged, 
and  on  Monday,  October  8,  1 781,  it  is  stated  that  he 
reached  New  London,  having  arrived  two  days  before 
in  his  brig  Betsey  at  Newport  in  thirty-one  days  from 
Granada,  West  Indies.  From  this  we  gather  that 
in  the  foregoing  extract  two  events  of  Isaac  Green- 

C'"3 


wood's  life  are  confounded.  We  see  that  the  New 
Broom,  Bishop,  was  captured  and  taken  into  New 
York  in  October,  1778,  and  we  know  that  Greenwood 
was  at  one  time  confined  as  a  prisoner  in  the  old  Crown 
(Liberty)  Street  sugar-house,  near  the  Middle  Dutch 
Church.  He  escaped  from  that  place  by  a  passage- 
way dug  beneath  the  walls,  across  the  street,  into 
the  cellar  of  a  house  opposite;  thence,  making  his  way 
by  night  to  the  shore,  he  swam  off  to  a  sloop,  rested 
on  the  deck  till  near  daylight,  and  again  taking  to  the 
water,  reached  the  opposite  banks  near  Hoboken,  and 
pushed  on  to  Hackensack.  On  the  occasion  of  his 
being  carried  a  prisoner  to  Antigua,  though  he  may 
have  been  with  his  old  captain,  Israel  Bishop,  it  was 
evidently  not  in  the  privateer  New  Broom.  Possibly  it 
was  in  the  Brutus,  of  Salem,  Captain  W.  Coles,  as  his 
son,  the  late  Judge  John  Greenwood,  presented  to  the 
Long  Island  Historical  Society  in  1863  the  rough, 
serviceable  cutlass  of  his  father,  with  its  wooden 
handle,  iron  guard,  black  leather  sheath,  and  broad 
belt,  and  inscribed  on  the  inside  with  the  name  of  "the 
ship  Brutus." 

After  the  war  Isaac  Greenwood  lived  in  Providence, 
Rhode  Island,  until  his  removal  in  18 10  to  New  York, 
where  he  died,  October  21,  1829,  aged  seventy-one 
years.  His  remains  lie  in  Greenwood  Cemetery,  be- 
neath a  slab  suitably  inscribed. 

Note  16,  Page  20 

November  9,  1775,  Lieutenant-Colonel  George 
Clark,  of  the  43d  Foot,  landed  under  cover  of  the 
Cerberus,  36,  Captain  Chads,  on  Lechmere's  Point 
(Phipp's  farm),  which  at  high  water  was  an  island. 
Clark  had  with  him  six  companies  of  light  infantry 
and  a  hundred  grenadiers,  about  600  men  in  all.  He 
was  driven  off  with  the  loss  of  two  men,  and  carried 
away  ten  cows  belonging  to  Mr.  Ireland.    The  Ameri- 

1:1.23 


cans,  who  were  exposed  the  whole  time  to  a  warm 
fire  from  the  forts  in  Charlestown  and  one  in  Boston, 
also  lost  two  men  by  grape  from  the  Cerberus.  The 
repulsing  party  consisted  of  Colonel  Thompson's  regi- 
ment of  riflemen  and  parts  of  Woodbridge's  and  Pat- 
terson's regiments.  Major  Mifflin  (afterward  first 
governor  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania)  particularly 
distinguished  himself  at  the  time.  Washington  in  his 
report  says:  "The  alacrity  of  the  riflemen  and  officers 
upon  the  occasion  did  them  honor,  to  which  Colonel 
Patterson's  regiment  and  some  others  were  equally  en- 
titled." 

Heath's  "Memoirs"  and  Silliman's  "Journal"  both 
mention  the  fortifying  of  Lechmere's  Point.  A  new 
causeway  connecting  it  with  Patterson's  post  at  Fort 
No.  3  was  begun  December  12,  1775,  and  five  days 
later,  by  order  of  General  Putnam,  300  men  broke 
ground  on  top  of  the  hill  at  the  point,  about  half 
a  mile  from  the  shipping.  These  defenses,  notwith- 
standing severe  cannonading  at  times,  were  finished 
and  mounted,  February  25,  with  some  heavy  pieces. 

Note  17,  Page  21 

A  similar  incident  is  mentioned  in  a  letter  of  July 
12,  1775  (Allison's  "Remembrances,"  1775),  and 
Frothingham,  in  his  "Siege  of  Boston,"  p.  213,  refers 
to  the  same.  Rament's  name  is  given  on  the  regimental 
return  as  Shubael  Raymond,  of  Boston;  he  is  un- 
doubtedly the  same  party  referred  to  in  General 
Orders  at  Ticonderoga,  November  5,  1776.  Firing 
of  small  arms  was  forbidden  in  General  Orders  of 
July  4  and  26,  1775. 

Note  18,  Page  22 

At  this  point  in  the  memoir  mention  might  have 
been  made  of  the  fact  that  on  September  13,  1775, 
men  were  drafted  out  of  the  different  regiments  for 

t:>'33 


Arnold's  expedition  up  the  Kennebec  River  and 
through  the  wilderness  to  Quebec.  From  Patterson's 
regiment  went  twenty-five  men,  a  sergeant,  a  corporal, 
and  a  drum,  Captain  Thomas  Williams,  of  Stock- 
bridge,  Captain  William  Goodrich,  of  Great  Barring- 
ton,  Massachusetts,  and  First  Lieutenant  John  Cums- 
ton  (or  Comston),  of  Saco,  District  of  Maine. 
Cumston  and  three  privates  were  from  Captain  T. 
T.  Bliss's  company.  Both  Captain  Goodrich  and  Lieu- 
tenant Cumston  were  taken  in  the  attack  upon  Que- 
bec toward  the  close  of  the  year,  and  remaining 
prisoners  till  their  exchange,  May  i8,  1776,  arrived 
in  a  transport,  September  24,  at  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey. 
Captain  Thomas  Williams  returned  from  the  mouth 
of  the  Dead  River  on  October  25  with  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  R.  Enos. 


Note  19,  Page  23 

The  party  of  130  from  General  Heath's  and  Gen- 
eral Frye's  brigades,  which,  on  January  8,  1776,  burned 
the  few  remaining  houses  left  standing  in  Charlestown, 
was  composed  of  men  from  Colonel  John  Greaton's 
24th  Regiment  and  Colonel  John  Patterson's  15th 
Regiment,  commanded  by  Major  Thomas  Knowlton. 
It  was  divided  between  Majors  Richard  Carey  and 
David  Henly,  with  orders  for  the  former  to  first  fire 
the  houses  most  distant  from  the  dam.  Through  some 
error,  however,  Henly,  of  Heath's  brigade,  executed 
his  injunctions  first.  Of  the  enemy  one  man  was  killed 
and  five  taken  prisoners.  General  Putnam  and  his 
staff  watched  the  manoeuver  from  Cobble  Hill,  and  the 
party  was  thanked  next  day  in  General  Orders.  Other 
ofl^icers  interested  were  Captain  Edward  P.  Williams, 
First  Lieutenant  Samuel  Foster,  and  Ensign  Thomas 
Cheney;  Captain  Jacob  Goold  and  First  Lieutenant 
Elijah  Shaw  from  Greaton's  regiment;  Captain  Wil- 


liam  Wyman,  First  Lieutenant  William  A.  Patterson 
(of  Captain  Noble's  company),  and  Second  Lieutenant 
Joshua  Trafton  (or  Traston)  from  Patterson's  regi- 
ment. 

Note  20,  Page  25 

The  American  forces  left  Boston  for  New  York 
as  follows: 

On  Friday,  March  15,  1776,  Brigadier-General 
William  Heath  was  ordered  to  set  out  with  some 
artillery  and  the  five  regiments  of  Patterson,  Greaton, 
Stark,  Bond,  and  Webb.  They  reached  New  Lon- 
don on  the  26th,  sailed  the  next  day,  and  on  Satur- 
day the  30th  at  noon  marched  into  New  York.  Heath 
resigned  the  chief  command,  April  3,  to  General  Put- 
nam, who  had  then  arrived.  The  brigade  of  Major- 
General  John  Sullivan,  which  had  left  Boston  March 
27,  reached  New  York  April  10  with  six  regiments 
and  two  companies  with  light  artillery,  and  by  the  14th 
there  were  eleven  regiments  present  in  the  city,  with 
five  more  on  Long  Island  and  one,  Colonel  Patter- 
son's, on  Staten  Island.  On  April  i  Brigadier-Gen- 
eral Greene,  with  five  more  regiments  and  a  detach- 
ment of  artillery,  was  ordered  to  set  out  from  Bos- 
ton, and  on  the  4th  the  commander-in-chief  left  the 
town  with  the  last  division  of  five  regiments  and  the 
balance  of  the  artillery  under  Brigadier-General 
Joseph  Spencer.  Washington  arrived  in  New  York 
on  the  13th  and  his  lady  on  the  17th. 

On  April  15  four  regiments  under  Brigadier-Gen- 
eral William  Thompson  were  ordered  from  New 
York  to  Canada  by  way  of  the  lakes.  These  regi- 
ments were  the  8th,  Colonel  Enoch  Poor;  the  15th, 
Colonel  John  Patterson;  the  24th,  Colonel  John  Grea- 
ton, and  the  25th,  Colonel  William  Bond.  A  return 
of  them,  dated  four  days  later,  is  given  in  "Ameri- 
can Archives,"   4th   Series,  Vol.  V,   p.   986.     Sailing 


from  the  city  on  Sunday  the  21st,  the  party  reached 
Albany  on  the  26th,  and  finally  arrived,  May  13,  at 
Chambly,  to  the  north  of  St.  Johns. 

Note  21,  Page  25 

A  brief  summary  of  the  various  changes  in  the  com- 
mand which  took  place  toward  the  close  of  the  Cana- 
dian campaign  may  not  be  here  out  of  place.  It  was 
at  first  designed  that  Major-General  Charles  Lee 
should  succeed  General  Montgomery,  who  had  fallen 
before  Quebec,  December  31,  1775,  but  when  the 
former  was  placed  over  the  Southern  Department, 
Brigadier-General  John  Thomas,  then  before  Boston, 
was  raised  to  the  rank  of  major-general  and  appointed 
to  take  active  command  of  the  Continental  forces  at 
the  north,  since  ill  health  prevented  General  Schuyler 
from  so  doing.  Meanwhile  leadership  of  the  be- 
sieging army  at  Quebec  was  assumed  by  Arnold  until 
the  arrival,  on  April  i,  of  his  superior  oflicer, 
Brigadier-General  David  Wooster,  who,  after  having 
remained  inactive  during  the  winter  at  Montreal,  had 
now  left  Colonel  Moses  Hazen,  of  the  2d  Canadian 
Regiment  or  "Congress'  Own,"  in  charge  there.  A 
fall  of  his  horse  having  disabled  his  wounded  leg, 
Arnold  quitted  the  camp  before  Quebec  on  Friday, 
April  12,  and  withdrew  to  Montreal,  where,  taking 
command,  he  sent  Hazen  down  to  St.  Johns,  Cham- 
bly, etc.  General  Wooster  presently  gave  place  to 
Major-General  John  Thomas,  who,  having  reached 
Montreal  April  26,  arrived  before  Quebec  five  days 
later.  As  the  English  were  now  rapidly  advancing 
up  the  river  and  were  receiving  and  expecting  power- 
ful reinforcements,  General  Thomas  retreated,  May 
5,  to  Point  Deschambault,  and  afterward  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Sorel.  He  died  at  Chambly  from  smallpox, 
June  2,  1776. 


The  congressional  commissioners,  Franklin,  Chase, 
and  Carroll,  arrived  on  April  29  at  Montreal  and 
lodged  at  the  house  of  Thomas  Walker.  As  soon 
as  news  reached  the  city  that  British  men-of-war  were 
down  the  river  below  Quebec,  Franklin  and  the  Rev. 
John  Carroll  started.  May  11,  1776,  by  boat  for  Fort 
George,  whence  General  Schuyler  wrote  to  Congress 
on  the  28th  that  they  had  left  for  Albany  "on  my 
chariot,  which  they  are  to  take  soon  to  New  York." 
Arnold  likewise  left  Montreal  on  May  11  to  confer 
with  General  Thomas  at  Sorel,  and  by  the  advice 
of  the  commissioners  Colonel  Patterson  was  ordered 
to  advance  from  St.  Johns,  twenty-seven  miles  dis- 
tant, and  occupy  the  city  with  his  regiment  as  a  garri- 
son. On  May  15  Arnold  wrote  the  remaining  com- 
missioner, Samuel  Chase,  of  Maryland,  "I  am  glad 
Patterson  has  been  sent  for;  I  believe  he  will  give 
satisfaction";  and  again,  three  days  later,  "I  think  it 
advisable  to  innoculate  Colonel  Patterson's  regiment 
at  Montreal."  Patterson  arrived  on  the  15th,  his  men 
taking  the  place  of  Colonel  James  Clinton's  3d  New 
York  (Ulster  County)  Militia,  whose  time  was  out. 
The  next  day,  being  in  command  at  Montreal,  Patter- 
son despatched  to  the  Cedars  the  relief  party  alluded 
to  in  the  memoir.  Colonel  Greaton's  regiment  was 
now  ordered  to  advance  from  Sorel  for  the  support 
of  the  garrison,  and  it  remained  in  the  city  till  May 
31,  when  Sullivan's  brigade  began  to  arrive.  This 
latter  officer,  through  representations  of  the  commis- 
sioners, had  been  appointed  to  succeed  General 
Thomas  in  place  of  General  Wooster,  recalled.  Pat- 
terson's and  Reed's  regiments  were  in  Montreal  on 
June  15  when  Arnold  abandoned  the  city,  at  which  time 
also  General  Sullivan  retreated  from  his  position  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Sorel  toward  St.  Johns. 

Previous  to  this  retreat  General  Sullivan  had 
planned  the  battle  of  Three  Rivers,   and  despatched 

i:"73 


Brigadier-General  William  Thompson  to  attack  the 
enemy  at  that  point.  The  expedition  failed,  and 
Thompson,  Colonel  William  Irvine,  and  a  portion  of 
his  Pennsylvania  regiment  were  taken  prisoners. 
Later,  in  June,  the  chief  command  of  the  Northern 
Army  was  conferred  upon  Major-General  Horatio 
Gates,  and  Sullivan  returned  to  New  York  and  was 
taken  prisoner  at  the  battle  of  Long  Island,  August 
27   following. 

Note  22,  Page  26 

Colonel  Timothy  Bedel,  of  the  New  Hampshire 
Rangers,  who  commanded  at  the  Cedars,  hearing  that 
Captain  George  Forster^  was  advancing  against  him 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Oswegatchie  (now  Ogdens- 
burg),  under  the  pretense  of  going  to  Montreal  for 
reinforcements,  left  the  garrison  in  command  of  Ma- 
jor Isaac  Butterfield,  "an  officer  quite  as  void  of 
courage  as  his  superior."  Forster  had  with  him  forty 
regulars  of  the  8th  (or  King's)  Regiment,  a  hundred 
Canadians  and  500  Indians  under  Brant,  and  "no 
artillery,"  says  the  English  account.  On  the  morning 
of  Sunday,  May  19,  he  began  heavy  fire  of  musketry, 
and  Butterfield  quietly  surrendered  without  any  show 
of  resistance.  The  two  pieces  of  field  artillery  (brass 
6-pounders)  with  which  the  garrison  was  provided 
thus  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy  and  were  the 
cannon  alluded  to  in  the  memoir. 

Colonel  Patterson  had  meanwhile  despatched  (May 
16)  the  relief  party  from  his  own  regiment  at 
Montreal,  and  Major  Sherburne,  who  had  just  arrived 
in  the  city,  offering  to  command  the  same,  received 
therefore  the  thanks  of  the  congressional  commis- 
sioners, Chase  and  Carroll.  The  major  marched,  but 
could  not  find  boats  to  cross  till  Saturday  the   i8th. 

■^  In  November,  1776,  major  of  the  21st  or  Royal  North  British 
Fusiliers. 


He  recrossed,  however,  that  same  evening,  being  fear- 
ful of  an  attack,  since  Captain  Bliss,  while  looking  for 
teams,  had  been  taken  prisoner  only  two  miles  from 
the  landing-place  by  some  savages  and  Canadians. 
On  the  following  day,  owing  to  the  weather,  only  one 
boat  crossed  the  river,  but  Captain  Sullivan,  who  was 
in  it,  went  to  the  priest's  house  where  Bliss  was  con- 
fined and  procured  his  release.  On  the  20th  the  whole 
party  again  crossed  and  Sherburne,  leaving  a  guard 
of  forty  men,  marched  with  about  a  hundred  men 
for  the  Cedars,  nine  miles  distant.  After  proceeding 
some  five  miles  he  fell  into  the  ambuscade  as  described 
by  Greenwood,  toward  five  o'clock  in  the  evening.  A 
fierce  battle  raged  for  an  hour  and  a  half,  when  the 
Indians,  having  completely  encircled  them,  rushed 
down  upon  the  little  band,  disarmed  them,  and 
butchered  about  twenty,  stripping  the  remainder  and 
driving  them  in  triumph  to  the  fort.  The  Americans 
lost  altogether  fifty-eight  and  the  enemy  twenty-two, 
among  whom  was  a  Seneca  brave.  Captain  John  Mc- 
Kinstry's  company  had  particularly  distinguished  it- 
self, and  that  oflScer  the  Indians,  from  revenge,  had 
determined  to  torture.  Brant  interposed,  however, 
and  with  some  English  officers  purchased  an  ox  which 
was  roasted  instead  of  the  prisoner.  Some  accounts 
say  that  the  captain  was  only  released  from  the  stake 
when  the  great  chief  observed  him  making  the  masonic 
sign  of  distress. 

On  the  succeeding  day,  according  to  Stedman's  "His- 
tory of  the  War,"  Forster  advanced  to  Vaudreuil, 
six  miles  north  of  the  Cedars,  and  on  the  24th, 
having  received  intelligence  that  the  enemy,  under 
Colonel  Arnold,  had  posted  themselves  at  La  Chine, 
nine  miles  from  Montreal,  he  marched  to  attempt  their 
dislodgment.  He  had  advanced  to  within  three  miles 
of  the  place  when,  learning  the  number  of  the  Ameri- 
cans, he  retreated  to  Vaudreuil.       Arnold  with  700 

i:i'93 


men  came  up  the  river  on  Sunday  the  26th  to  attack 
him,  but  on  the  succeeding  day  a  cartel  was  agreed 
upon  and  signed  for  the  exchange  of  two  majors  (Sher- 
burne and  Butterfield),  nine  captains,  twenty  sub- 
alterns and  443  soldiers.  It  was  agreed  that  four 
American  captains  should  be  sent  to  Quebec  as  hostages 
and  remain  there  until  the  prisoners  were  exchanged; 
these  were  Captains  Ebenezer  Sullivan  and  Theodore 
T.  Bliss  of  Sherburne's  party,  and  Captains  John 
Stevens  and  Ebenezer  Green  of  Major  Butterfield's 
party. 

Note  23,  Page  26 

On  May  3,  1775,  it  was  voted  by  the  Rhode  Island 
Assembly  that  a  brigade  of  three  regiments,  1500 
men,  be  raised  and  enlisted  to  December,  as  part  of 
an  army  of  observation  for  the  defense  of  the 
colony,  and  Nathanael  Greene,  Jr.,  was  appointed 
brigadier-general.  The  three  regiments  were  officered 
as  follows : 

1.  Colonel  Daniel  Hitchcock;  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Ezekiel  Cornell;  Major  Israel  Agnell;  for 
Providence  County;  eight  companies. 

2.  Colonel  James  Mitchell  Varnum;  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  James  Babcock;  Major  Christopher 
Green;  for  King's  County  and  Kent;  eight  com- 
panies. 

3.  Colonel  Thomas  Church;  Lieutenant-Colonel 
William  Turner  Miller;  Major  John  Forrester, 
whose  place  was  soon  taken  by  Major  Henry 
Sherburne;  for  Newport  and  Bristol  counties; 
seven  companies  and  one  company  of  artillery, 
Captain  (later  Major)  John  Crane. 

A  small  force  of  not  more  than  250  men  was  soon 
despatched  en  route  toward  Boston,  and  encamped  on 
Jamaica  Plains,  some  little  distance  southwest  of  Rox- 

[120] 


bury.  They  were  under  command  of  Lieutenant-Colo- 
nel William  T.  Miller  of  the  3d  Regiment.  General 
Greene  arrived  on  Saturday,  May  27,  and  the  next  day 
Colonel  Hitchcock  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Cornell, 
Major  Sherburne  coming  into  camp  toward  evening. 
Soon  after  other  companies,  including  the  train  of 
artillery  with  four  field-pieces,  arrived.*^  June  17  some 
of  the  Rhode  Island  men  participated  in  the  battle 
of  Bunker  Hill,  but  the  most  of  them  were  drawn  out 
under  arms  as  a  reserve.  Eleven  days  later  the  As- 
sembly voted  that  the  Rhode  Island  troops  be  put 
under  the  command  of  the  general  of  the  combined 
army,  and  when  Washington  arrived,  July  3,  one 
Rhode  Island  regiment  and  the  New  Hampshire 
troops  occupied  the  entrenchments  thrown  up  on 
Prospect  Hill,  and  the  other  Rhode  Island  regiments 
were  at  Sewall's  farm.  After  July  22  the  three  Rhode 
Island  regiments,  with  four  Massachusetts  regiments, 
composed  the  brigade,  under  Brigadier-General 
Greene,  which  was  part  of  the  left  wing,  or  Second 
Division,  of  the  army  commanded  by  Major-General 
Lee, 

At  a  Council  of  General  Officers  held  at  Cambridge, 
November  2,  1775,  for  choosing  the  colonels,  lieu- 
tenant-colonels, and  majors  for  the  new  army  (appoint- 
ments to  take  effect  after  January  i,  1776),  Major 
Henry  Sherburne  was  assigned  to  Colonel  John  Patter- 
son's 15th  (Massachusetts)  Regiment.  On  November 
28  he  was  a  member  of  the  Court  of  Inquiry  at  Cam- 
bridge for  examining  into  the  conduct  of  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Roger  Enos,  who  had  returned  from  Colonel 
Arnold's  expedition  to  Quebec. 

Henry  Sherburne,  of  Newport,  Rhode  Island   (son 

*  Church,  Miller,  and  Sherburne  and  Adjutants  Bradford  and 
Box  were  quartered  in  the  Bradford  House,  Roxbury.  ("New 
England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,"  Vol.  XI,  pp.  136- 
140.) 


probably  of  Colonel BenjamlnSherburne  of  that  place), 
a  graduate  in  1759  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  was 
about  thirty-five  years  of  age  when  appointed,  in  1775, 
major  of  the  3d  Rhode  Island  Regiment.  Subsequently, 
as  will  be  seen  from  the  memoir,  he  reached  New  York, 
March  30,  1776,  as  major  of  Colonel  John  Patterson's 
15th  (Massachusetts)  Regiment,  and  on  April  4  was 
despatched  to  Philadelphia  by  General  Putnam  with  a 
letter  to  President  Hancock  applying  for  cash  on  ac- 
count of  the  Continental  forces  then  in  the  city.  Con- 
gress voted  on  the  9th  that  $200,000  be  sent  on  by 
Major  Sherburne.  Detained  thus  on  official  business, 
Sherburne  did  not  reach  Montreal  until  his  regiment 
was  located  there,  and  he  immediately  offered  his  serv- 
ices to  take  command  of  the  relief  party  about  to  be  de- 
spatched (May  16)  to  the  Cedars.  His  account  of  this 
affair  can  be  seen  in  the  "American  Archives,"  4th 
Series,  Vol.  VI,  p.  598,  dated  New  York,  June  18, 
when  he  was  on  his  way  to  lay  the  whole  unhappy 
case  before  Congress.  He  also  carried  a  letter  from 
General  Arnold,  dated  Montreal,  June  2,  addressed 
to  the  congressional  commissioners.  Chase  and  Car- 
roll, on  their  way  from  Canada  to  Philadelphia 
( "American  Archives,"  5th  Series,  Vol.  I,  p.  165,  etc. ) . 
On  July  15  Congress  allowed  him  fifty-five  dollars  for 
his  expenses  since  leaving  Canada  (June  6),  with  fur- 
ther allowance  of  eight  days'  expenses  to  join  his  regi- 
ment at  Ticonderoga.  About  the  middle  of  November 
the  regiment  was  ordered  to  proceed  southward  as  soon 
as  boats  could  be  procured  on  Lake  George  and  to  join 
General  Washington's  forces.  Sherburne's  letter  to 
Major-General  Gates  while  en  route,  dated  Esopus, 
December  12,  is  in  "American  Archives,"  5th  Series, 
Vol.  Ill,  p.  1 192. 

On  October  28,  1776,  the  Rhode  Island  Assembly 
resolved  that  two  battalions  be  immediately  raised  by 
the  State,  agreeable  to  requisition  of  the  Continental 

[122] 


Congress,  and  appointed  to  the  First  Battalion  Colonel 
James  M.  Varnum  (who  declined),  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Adam  Comstock  (who  died  in  Saratoga  County,  New 
York,  April  lo,  1819,  aged  eighty  years),  and  Major 
Henry  Sherburne ;  David  Hitchcock  was  appointed 
colonel  of  the  Second  Battalion,  Sherburne  had  been 
recommended  by  General  Washington  among  other 
officers  for  the  new  establishment,  in  a  letter  to  Gov- 
ernor Cook  dated  from  headquarters,  Harlem  Heights, 
October  12. 

In  May,  1777,  Sherburne  was  colonel  in  command 
of  one  of  the  sixteen  additional  battalions  raised  by 
order  of  Congress,  and  in  the  fall  and  spring  of  1778-9 
his  regiment  appears  to  have  been  at  Seaconnet.  In 
April,  1780,  when  they  were  quartered  at  Parasmus, 
that  place  was  attacked  by  a  party  of  the  enemy,  who 
fired  the  house  which  had  been  occupied  by  the  regi- 
ment and  took  fifty-two  prisoners,  including  several 
officers. 

In  May,  1782,  Henry  Sherburne,  Esq.,  who  had 
retired  from  service  in  January,  1781,  was  a  deputy 
from  Newport  to  the  Rhode  Island  General  Assembly. 
In  December,  1783,  the  officers  of  the  Society  of  the 
Cincinnati  in  Rhode  Island  were:  Major-General 
Nathanael  Greene,  president;  Major-General  James  M. 
Varnum,  vice-president ;  Colonel  Henry  Sherburne,  sec- 
retary, etc.  In  May,  1784,  he  was  appointed  to  assist 
the  secretary  in  preparing  the  "Acts  and  Orders  of  the 
General  Assembly"  for  the  press,  and  was  authorized  to 
hire  a  suitable  room  for  his  accommodation  at  Provi- 
dence at  the  expense  of  the  State.  He  was  also  em- 
ployed to  settle  the  accounts  between  his  native  State 
and  the  United  States.  In  February,  1786,  his  pay  for 
services  in  the  army  of  the  United  States,  amounting  to 
£257:7:2,  was  ordered  to  be  paid;  part  was  paid  at 
the  time  and  the  balance,  with  interest,  voted  to  be  paid 
in  October,  1789.    Toward  the  close  of  October,  1792, 

1:123:] 


he  was  elected  by  the  two  houses  as  General  Treasurer 
of  the  State,  vice  Joseph  Clarke,  deceased,  a  position 
which  he  held  until  1818.  He  died  six  years  later, 
aged  about  eighty-four  years,  collector  for  Newport, 
Rhode  Island. 


Note  24,  Page  34 

Captain  James  Wilkinson,  an  aide-de-camp  of  Ar- 
nold, on  his  way  down  the  river  with  a  message  to  Gen- 
eral Sullivan  at  Sorel,  discovered  the  enemy's  vessels, 
delayed  by  a  failure  of  wind.  This  was  about  three 
o'clock  on  Saturday  afternoon,  June  15,  1776.  The 
distance  was  not  more  than  fourteen  miles  and,  having 
landed,  the  captain  procured  a  horse,  dashed  back  to 
Longueuil,  got  across  the  river,  gave  the  alarm,  and 
started  off  again  to  find  Sullivan.  The  latter  succeeded 
in  getting  his  men  safely  down  to  Chambly  (it  was 
"sauve  qui  peut"),  and  Arnold,  who  had  succeeded  in 
embarking  the  Montreal  garrison  about  7  P.M.,  was 
but  a  few  miles  in  advance. 

Arnold  took  with  him  a  quantity  of  rum,  molasses, 
wine,  etc.,  which,  as  he  wrote  General  Sullivan  on  the 
following  day  from  La  Prairie,  he  had  seized  for  the 
use  of  the  army.  On  the  17th  they  reached  St.  Johns, 
and  Isle-aux-Noix  the  following  day.  Here  they  rested 
a  week  and  did  not  arrive  at  Crown  Point  before  July 
I,  "almost  beat  out,  having  had  very  little  else  but  salt 
pork  and  wheat  meal  for  six  weeks,"  says  Colonel  Wil- 
liam Bond  in  a  letter  to  his  wife.  ("New  England 
Genealogical  Register,"  Vol.  IV,  p.  71.) 

At  Isle-aux-Noix,  on  June  23,  only  sixteen  of  Patter- 
son's regiment  drew  rations,  and,  writes  General  Sulli- 
van to  Washington  the  next  day,  "as  but  five  of  these 
were  fit  for  duty,  I  have  just  ordered  them  on  to  Crown 
Point  to  join  the  rest  of  their  regiment  who  are  there, 
all  sick." 


Note  25,  Page  38 

General  Gates,  with  the  remnants  of  Patterson's, 
Stark's,  Read's,  and  Poor's  regiments  from  the  North- 
ern Army,  left  Albany  December  2,  reached  Goshen 
on  the  8th,  and  the  Moravian  settlement  of  Bethlehem, 
by  way  of  Minisink  on  the  Delaware,  on  the  evening 
of  the  15th,  Leaving  this  point  on  the  17th,  he  joined 
Washington  three  days  later  at  his  headquarters  in  the 
village  of  Newtown,  on  a  small  branch  of  the  Nesham- 
iny.  Sullivan  arrived  the  same  day  with  Lee's  divi- 
sion, and  on  the  24th  Gates  set  out  for  Baltimore.  It 
was  on  Christmas  night  that  the  commander-in-chief, 
accompanied  by  Sullivan  and  Greene,  crossed  the  Dela- 
ware about  eight  miles  above  Trenton  at  M'Conkey's 
Ferry  (now  Taylorsville  or  Washington's  Crossing) 
with  some  2400  men  and  twenty  pieces  of  artillery 
under  Colonel  Knox. 

Note  26,  Page  42 

"On  Christmas-day  in  seventy-six, 
Our  ragged  troops,  with  bayonets  fix'd, 

For  Trenton  marched  away. 
The  Delaware  see  !    the  boats  below  ! 
The  light  obscured  by  hail  and  snow ! 
But  no  signs  of  dismay." 

— Old  Song. 

Sullivan's  division  came  down  the  river  road  and 
encountered  the  British  advance  near  Rutherford's 
Place,  at  the  southwestern  part  of  the  town.  The 
enemy  endeavored  to  form  a  battery  in  King  (Warren) 
Street,  near  where  the  canal-feeder  crosses  the  way, 
but  Captain  William  Washington  and  Lieutenant  James 
Monroe  (afterward  President)  rushed  forward  with  a 
small  party  and,  driving  off  the  artillerymen,  captured 
two  of  the  pieces  just  as  the  gunners  were  about  to 
fire. 

1^1 


Colonel  Rahl  fell  by  a  musket-ball  fired  by  Captain 
Frederick  Frelinghuysen,  of  New  Jersey.  "The  ghosts 
of  forty  of  his  countrymen  accompanied  him;  and  very 
nearly  looo  were  made  prisoners,"  says  Weems.  "The 
enemy  laid  down  their  arms  on  the  field  between  the 
Presbyterian  Church  and  Park  Place,  then  called  the 
Old  Iron  Works,"  according  to  Lossing.  The  trophies 
were  six  brass  field-pieces,  lOOO  stands  of  arms,  twelve 
drums,  and  four  colors.  These  latter,  the  first  cap- 
tured by  General  Washington,  included  the  splendid 
Anspacher  flag,  afterward  in  the  museum  at  Alex- 
andria. The  first  flag  taken  during  the  war  and  sus- 
pended over  the  speaker's  chair  in  Congress  was  the 
regimental  one  of  the  garrison  at  St.  Johns,  Canada, 
which  surrendered  to  General  Montgomery  in  Novem- 
ber,   1775. 

Captain  John  Polhemus,  of  the  ist  New  Jersey 
Regiment,  says  in  his  diary  that  the  prisoners  were  con- 
fined "in  Newtown  jail  and  yard.  There  being  a  severe 
snowstorm  the  oflicers  were  quartered  in  the  same 
house  with  General  Patterson  and  myself."  The  men 
were  allowed  their  baggage  and  sent  off  to  the  western 
counties  of  Pennsylvania  with  their  packs  unsearched. 

Note  27,  Page  50 

In  several  books  published  toward  the  beginning  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  giving  descriptions  or  represen- 
tations of  the  world's  marine  flags,  we  find  the  flag  of 
New  England.**  English  works  depict  it  as  red,  with 
a  red  cross  of  St.  George  on  a  white  canton,  in  the 
first  quarter  of  which  is  the  green  pine-tree  placed  on 
the  Massachusetts  coinage  as  early  as  1652.     French 

^  See  article  on  "New  England  and  the  United  States  Flag"  by 
the  writer  in  "Notes  and  Queries,"  London,  January,  1862,  pp.  72- 
74;  also  "Revolutionary  Uniforms  and  Flags"  in  Potter's  American 
Monthly,  January,  1876,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  31-34. 

[;i263 


J 


and  Dutch  works  describe  the  flag  as  blue,  similarly 
cantoned,  bearing  in  the  first  quarter  "une  sphere 
celeste,"  typical  of  America,  usually  called  the  New 
World.  The  writer  has  a  chart  published  at  Augs- 
burg during  the  American  Revolution,  in  which  the  flag 
still  appears. ^*^ 

The  Massachusetts  Council  in  April,  1776,  resolved 
that  their  armed  cruisers  should  carry  a  white  flag  with 
a  green  pine-tree  and  the  inscription  "An  Appeal  to 
Heaven,"  being  the  same  as  had  been  raised  during  the 
previous  fall  over  the  Continental  floating  batteries 
around  Boston.  We  know,  too,  that  it  was  borne  by 
at  least  one  of  the  small  armed  vessels  fitted  out  by 
General  Washington  which  had  the  misfortune  to  fall 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemy  before  the  close  of  1775. 
To  this  device  of  the  tree  Manley  had,  in  the  Cumber- 
land flag,  added  the  snake  and  motto  which  appeared 
September,  1765,  after  the  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act, 
as  a  heading  to  the  Constitutional  Courant,  a  single 
sheet  printed  at  Burlington,  New  Jersey.  In  1774  the 
Massachusetts  Spy  also  adopted  this  motto  and  device. 

As  the  United  States  flag  of  thirteen  alternate  red 
and  white  horizontal  stripes,  with  thirteen  white  stars 
on  a  blue  canton,  was  adopted  by  Congress  June  14, 
1777,  and  as  Manley  was  a  captain  in  the  regular  naval 
service  though  temporarily  in  command  of  a  Massa- 
chusetts privateer,  it  would  appear  that  he  regarded 
"the  stars  and  stripes"  as  peculiar  to  a  national  vessel 
of  war. 

Note  28,  Page  53 

Vice-Admiral  Byron,  of  the  Princess  Royal,  in  his 
report  to  the  Admiralty  dated  from  Gros  Islet  Bay, 
St.  Lucie,  February  4,  1779,  has  the  following:    "The 

^^  The  same  chart  gives  the  American  national  striped  ensign 
with  a  golden  "fleur-de-lis"  over  the  stars,  complimentary  to  the 
French  alliance. 

[127] 


Pomona  frigate  arrived  here  the  2d  inst.,  and  at  Bar- 
badoes  the  29th  of  last  month,  having  made  the  pas- 
sage to  that  island  in  twenty-six  days  from  Spithead. 
Captain  (Hon.  William)  Waldegrave  fell  in  with  and 
took  an  American  privateer  of  twenty  guns,  called  the 
Cumberland,  about  ten  leagues  to  windward  of  Bar- 
badoes,  after  a  chase  of  several  hours.  She  had  been 
but  a  short  time  from  Boston,  and  had  only  taken  a 
transport  from  Newfoundland,  with  some  recruits  for 
the  Nova  Scotia  volunteers;  which  transport  was  dis- 
masted on  the  coast  of  America,  and  the  Venus  retook 
her  with  all  the  recruits  close  in  with  Martinique.  The 
Cumberland  is  a  new  ship  and  sails  very  fast;  she  was 
commanded  by  a  Mr.  Manley,  the  same  person  who 
commanded  the  frigate  called  the  Hancock  when  she 
was  taken."  (Almon's  "Remembrancer,"  Vol.  VII, 
p.  288.) 

Note  29,  Page  57 

In  December,  18 1 1,  Dr.  John  Greenwood  was  visited 
by  Captain  Thomas  Pratt,  of  Chelsea,  Massachusetts, 
whose  son.  Dr.  Thomas  Pratt  (Harvard  College,  18 15, 
M.D.  1 818),  died  1820.  Greenwood  and  Pratt  were 
then  the  only  known  survivors  of  the  Cumberland's 
crew. 

Note  30,  Page  59 

In  the  prison  at  Barbadoes  the  authorities  had  con- 
fined an  old  Jew,  from  whom  Greenwood  learned  a 
certain  song  which  he  was  accustomed  to  sing  fre- 
quently in  after  life.  The  first  verse,  to  the  air  of  the 
"Countess  of  Coventry's  Minuet,"  was  as  follows: 

"This  world,  my  dear  Myra,  is  full  of  deceit, 
And  friendship's  a  jewel  we  seldom  can  meet; 
How  strange  does  it  seem  when  in  looking  around, 
That  source  of  content  is  so  scarce  to  be  found." 


Other  special  favorites  with  him  were  the  "Massa- 
chusetts Song  of  Liberty,"  which  first  appeared  in  1768, 
sung  to  the  air  of  "Hearts  of  Oak": 

"Then  join  hand  in  hand,  brave  Americans  all, 
By  uniting  we  stand,  by  dividing  we  fall"; 

and  Dibdin's  "Sea  Song"  : 

"In  storms,  when  clouds  obscure  the  sky. 
And  thunders  roll  and  lightnings  fly, 
In  midst  of   all  these  dire  alarms, 
I  think,  my  Sally,  on  thy  charms" ; 

and  the  "Drum" : 

"Come  each  gallant  lad,  who  for  pleasure 
quits  care. 

To  the  drum,  to  the  drum,  to  the  drum- 
head with  spirits  repair; 

Each  recruit  takes  his  glass. 

Each  young  soldier  toasts  his  lass. 

While  the  drum  beats  tattoo  (bis) 

We  retire  the  sweet  night  to  pass." 

"Another  of  father's  songs,"  says  his  son,  "remained 
impressed  on  my  memory  from  youth  in  the  following 
curious  gibberish : 

"  *Dong  song,  carry  me  over, 
Vive  le  roi,  dunkerney' ; 

until  one  day  it  burst  upon  me  that  this  was  the  French 
war-cry  of  1792 : 

"  'Dansons  la  Carmagnole, 
Vive  le  son  du  canon  I'  " 

1:1293 


Note  31,  Page  63 

David  Porter,  born  1754;  a  native  of  Massachusetts 
("New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Regis- 
ter," Vol.  XXX,  p.  460)  ;  captain  in  1778  of  the  Mary- 
land armed  sloop  Delight,  six  guns;  first  lieutenant, 
July  7,  1779,  of  the  New  Hampshire  armed  ship  Put- 
nam, Captain  D.  Waters,  of  the  Penobscot  expedition, 
burned  August  14;  captain  of  the  Boston  ship  Tartar, 
twenty-eight  guns,  150  men,  from  about  November, 
1779,  to  May,  1780;  captain  of  the  Boston  letter-of- 
marque  ship  Aurora,  sixteen  guns,  from  October,  1780, 
to  May,  178 1.  A  list  of  the  crew's  names,  ages,  etc., 
on  the  last-named  ship  was  sworn  to  by  him,  June  22, 
178 1,  before  Justice  Joseph  Greenleaf  of  Suffolk 
County,  and  he  is  described  as  being  in  "stature  five 
feet,  ten  inches."  In  November,  1783,  he  was  per- 
mitted to  keep  the  "North  End  Coffee  Home  and 
Tavern"  in  Boston,  opposite  Hancock's  Wharf.  He 
removed  to  Baltimore  and  was  appointed,  August  5, 
1792,  to  the  command  of  the  U.  S.  revenue  cutter 
Active,  vice  Simon  Goss,  and  died  in  1808.  His  eldest 
son.  Commodore  David  Porter,  was  born  February 
I,  1780,  in  Charter  Street,  Boston;  captain,  July  2, 
1 8 12;  and  died  March  3,  1843.  Commodore  Porter 
was  the  father  of  Admiral  David  Porter,  U.S.N. ,  who 
died  in  Washington,  District  of  Columbia,  February 
13,  1 89 1,  aged  seventy-eight  years. 

Note  32,  Page  66 

Boston  papers  of  March  6,  1780,  give  accounts  by 
which  we  learn  that  about  the  4th  inst.  there  had  ar- 
rived at  Portsmouth  a  ship  of  350  tons,  mounting  six- 
teen 6-pounders,  prize  to  the  privateer  ship  Tartar, 
Captain  Porter,  out  of  Boston.  She  was  bound  from 
New  York  for  Jamaica  for  a  freight  home,  and  had  a 
cargo  of  provisions,  powder,  shot,  etc.    She  had  sailed 


from  New  York  with  the  West  India  fleet  and  was  in 
sight  of  the  shipping  in  Port  Royal,  Jamaica,  when 
Captain  Porter  fell  in  with  her,  but  made  no  resistance. 
The  Tartar  also  took  a  sloop  with  rum,  molasses, 
cotton,  etc.,  which  had  not  arrived. 

The  Continental  Journal^  also  the  Independent 
Chronicle,  of  March  9,  1780,  both  of  Boston,  give  an 
extract  from  a  Martinique  letter  of  February  6  refer- 
ring to  the  above  prize  as  having  been  sent  to  Ports- 
mouth. Porter  also  took  the  ship  Wallace,  William 
Stephenson,  master. 


Note  33,  Page  67 

In  1779  Captain  John  (or  Jonathan)  Carnes  com- 
manded the  Hector,  eighteen  guns,  150  men,  which,  as 
one  of  Commodore  Saltonstall's  squadron  in  the 
Penobscot  expedition,  was  destroyed  August  14  of  that 
year.  The  brig  General  Lincoln,  Captain  John  Carnes, 
from  Port-au-Prince  to  Salem,  with  West  India  pro- 
duce, was  taken  Sunday,  May  21,  1780,  by  the  Iris, 
32,  Captain  James  Hawker,  then  returning  from 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  to  New  York,^^  where  on 
July  6  her  crew  was  paid  their  prize  money. 

In  March,  1781,  Captain  Carnes,  of  Salem,  who  was 
fitting  at  Martinique  for  another  cruise,  had  sent  in  a 
prize  brig  with  200  pipes  of  Madeira  wine.  By  an 
article  in  the  Independent  Chronicle  (Salem),  May  7, 
1 78 1,  we  learn  that  his  brig  Montgomery  had  arrived, 
having  sent  in  three  prizes;  he  had  also  engaged  a 
large  British  cutter  and  lost  his  lieutenant  and  had  five 
wounded.  Before  August  he  had  again  sailed  from 
Salem  in  the  ship  Porus,^^  twenty  9-pounders,  130  men, 
which  the  Essex  Gazette    (Salem)    of   February   28, 

'^''^  Riving  ton's  Gazette,  May  31,  1780. 

^~  Essex  Gazette,  February  27,   1783,  states  that  "the  privateer 
ship  Porus  had  arrived  at  Martinique  with  a  prize  ship." 


1782,  states  had  been  "lately  taken  into  Barbadoes." 
A  sloop  with  forty  hogsheads  of  rum,  prize  to  the 
Poms,  Captain  Carnes,  from  St.  Martins  to  Halifax, 
was  carried  into  Salem  early  in  June,  1782,  at  which 
time  Carnes  himself  was  a  naval  prisoner  in  New 
York,  and  we  hear  of  him  as  being  again  carried  a 
prisoner  into  the  same  port  in  October,  when  in  com- 
mand of  the  ship  Mohawk,  twenty  guns,  eighty  men, 
from  Beverly. 

Note  34,  Page  71 

"The  commissary  for  the  naval  prisoners  was  a 
Scotchman  named  David  Sproat,  a  fellow  whose  face 
put  his  scarlet  coat  out  of  countenance."  (Dunlap's 
"History  of  New  York.") 

"Hell  has  no  mischief  like  a  thirsty  throat, 
Nor  one  tormentor  like  your  David  Sproat." 

— Frenau's  "British  Prison-ship." 

"I  do  hereby  command  all  Captains,  Commanders, 
Masters  and  Prize  Masters  of  ships  and  other  vessels, 
who  bring  naval  prisoners  into  this  port,  immediately 
after  their  arrival  to  send  a  list  of  their  names  to  this 
office,  No.  33  in  Maiden  Lane,  where  they  will  receive 
an  order  how  to  dispose  of  them. 

"David  Sproat, 
Commissary  General,  N.  P."^^ 
New  York,  April  28,  1780. 

Note  35,  Page  71 

Edward  Watkeys's  soap  and  candle  factory.  No.  19 
Nassau  Street,  was  burned  on  the  night  of  August  24, 
1808;  his  wife,  daughter,  two  children,  and  a  servant 
perished  in  the  flames.  Mr.  Watkeys  died  about 
March,  18 13,  aged  seventy-three  years. 

^^  Riving  ton's  Royal  Gazette,  June  30,  1780. 


Note  36,  Page  73 

Probably  the  Race  Horse,  brig,  six  guns,  fifteen  men. 
Captain  Nathaniel  Thayer,  of  Massachusetts.  A  fast 
schooner  of  this  name,  about  forty  tons,  was  sold  at 
auction,  Griffin's  Wharf,  May  23,  1780. 

Note  37,  Page  77 

General  Cornwallis  arrived  from  the  Carolinas  and 
took  command.  May  20,  1781,  of  the  Department  of 
the  South  at  Petersburg,  Virginia,  uniting  with  the  late 
General  Phillips's  forces,  and  sending  Arnold,  whom 
Phillips  had  been  sent  from  New  York  to  reinforce, 
back  to  that  city.  At  the  time  Lafayette  was  at  Rich- 
mond on  the  James  River,  but  moved  down  later  on  to 
Williamsburg.  Yorktown  and  Gloucester  had  been 
taken  possession  of  by  Cornwallis  on  August  4,  and 
at  the  end  of  the  month  De  Grasse  entered  the  Chesa- 
peake with  the  French  fleet. 

Washington  and  Rochambeau  arrived  at  camp  Sep- 
tember 14,  as  did,  within  the  next  ten  days,  the  greater 
part  of  the  American  army.  Investiture  of  the  enemy 
at  York  began  on  the  28th,  and  a  surrender  was  made 
October  19. 

Note  38,  Page  78 

The  Virginia  governor,  Lord  Dunmore,  with  his  few 
armed  vessels  (the  Fowey,  Otter,  and  Dunmore)  and 
his  motley  flotilla  of  light  craft,  in  all  seventy-two  sail, 
driven  out  from  his  stronghold  on  Gwynn's  Island  by 
the  American  shore  batteries,  came  to  anchor  off  the 
mouth  of  the  Potomac  July  11,  1776.  In  order  to  re- 
plenish his  stock  of  provisions,  wood,  and  water,  and 
to  procure  recruits  for  the  loyal  regiment  which  he 
had  inaugurated,  a  short  excursion  up  to  St.  George 
Island,  Hopkins  Island,  Nanticoke  Point,  and  the  op- 
posite eastern  shore  of  the  Chesapeake  was  made  by 

1:1333 


the  Fowey  and  some  of  the  tenders.  Early  in  August 
Dunmore  was  still  lying  off  the  Potomac  but  had 
burned  some  of  his  small  craft  which  were  unfit  for 
sea,  and  had  despatched  others  to  the  south  with  tory 
refugees  who  sought  safety  in  Florida  or  the  West 
Indies.  On  the  yth  of  the  month  he  himself  sailed 
from  the  Capes,  and  a  week  later  Sir  Peter  Parker 
brought  his  lordship's  fleet  of  twenty-five  sail  into 
Sandy  Hook,  whence  he  departed  on  November  13 
for  England  with  a  large  number  of  transports  con- 
voyed by  the  Fowey  and  Active. 

Governor  Dunmore's  pilot  on  the  Chesapeake  was 
Joseph  Whayland,  Jr.,  of  Dorchester  County,  Mary- 
land, who  in  July,  1776,  had  command  of  three  tenders 
at  Smyth's  Island,  On  or  about  the  15th,  being  in  a 
creek  making  out  of  Holland  Straits  on  a  small 
schooner  with  three  men,  he  was  seized  by  a  detach- 
ment of  Colonel  William  C.  Traverse's  Corps  from 
Hooper  Straits  under  Major  Daniel  Fallen,  and  on 
August  3  the  Maryland  Committee  of  Safety  sent 
him  to  prison  until  their  next  convention.  Subse- 
quently he  was  committed,  September  12,  to  the  log 
jail  in  Frederick  County,  to  be  confined  until  he  should 
make  restitution  to  a  party  named  White  whose  sloop 
he  had  caused  to  be  destroyed,  and  was  ordered  to 
give  such  security  to  the  Council  of  Safety  as  they 
should  judge  necessary  for  his  future  good  behavior. 
From  the  jail  at  Annapolis  he  petitioned  the  conven- 
tion, October  28,  being  naked  and  without  money, 
for  clothing  lost  at  the  time  of  his  capture,  and  Major 
Fallen  was  directed  to  deliver  over  all  of  said  clothing 
then  in  his  possession. 

Whether  Whayland  was  released  or  escaped  from 
confinement  does  not  appear,  but  he  eventually  made 
his  way  to  New  York,  where  Admiral  Arbuthnot  en- 
couraged privateering,  and  probably  commenced  his 
marauding  when  the  admiral  lay  in  Lynnhaven  Bay. 

[:'343 


Intelligence  from  Baltimore,  August  21,  178 1,  states 
that  several  picaroons  from  New  York,  infesting  the 
Chesapeake  Bay  had  lately  taken  some  small  vessels 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Potomac.  The  following  spring 
five  of  these  small  privateers  were  reported  to  be  armed 
barges  or  gunboats,  and  about  May,  1782,  some  of 
them  attacked  and  took  an  armed  boat  from  Annapolis 
near  Tangier  Island;  it  was  a  severe  fight  and  the  com- 
mander. Captain  Grayson,  and  several  of  his  men  were 
slain.  An  Alexandria  letter  of  July  12  says  that  the 
Salem  brig  Ranger,  eight  guns  and  twenty  men,  which 
had  sailed  the  week  before  for  the  West  Indies,  was 
attacked  by  two  barges  on  the  night  of  the  5th, 
between  12  and  i  P.M.,  while  lying  off  St.  Marys  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Potomac.  They  were  commanded  by 
the  noted  Whayland  and  one  Barry,  and  after  a  severe 
fight  of  an  hour  and  a  half  Captain  T.  Simmons,  of  the 
Ranger,  drove  them  off  with  pikes,  it  being  too  close  to 
use  his  guns.  Whayland  himself  was  wounded  and  one 
of  his  men,  a  negro,  was  taken  prisoner,  while  Barry  and 
twenty-four  men  were  killed  and  buried  near  by  on  St. 
George  Island.  Captain  Simmons  lost  one  man,  and 
he  and  his  first  mate  being  wounded,  they  returned  to 
Annapolis.  Later  the  Ranger,  Captain  Perkins,  sailed 
for  Havana  and  finally  reached  Salem,  Massachusetts, 
on  December  18,  1782. 

Just  after  this  last  event,  that  is,  on  July  8,  the 
schooner  Greyhound,  "a  beautiful  boat,"  laden  with 
salt,  peas,  pork,  bacon,  and  dry-goods,  belonging  to 
Furnival  and  Gerock,  of  Baltimore,  was  taken  in 
Hooper  Straits  "by  that  notorious  renegade-pirate 
Joe  Whaland,"  whose  lieutenant,  Timmons,  had  re- 
cently executed  two  brothers  on  the  eastern  shore. 
Mr.  Furnival,  who  was  on  board  the  Greyhound,  the 
skipper,  and  all  the  hands  were  detained  for  twenty- 
four  hours  on  the  barge,  and  after  being  plundered  and 
robbed  of  everything,  were  set  on  shore  at  a  place  called 

ens: 


Dan  (or  Dames)  Quarter,  near  Devil's  Isle,  which  at 
the  time  harbored  a  number  of  desperate  adventurers. 
While  on  shore  and  before  being  released,  they  saw 
"several  other  bay  craft  fall  Into  the  fangs  of  the  same 
vultures."    The  prize  was  sent  up  to  New  York. 

Later  on  the  Lady  Washington  schooner,  with  flour 
from  Baltimore  to  Havana,  was  taken  In  the  bay  "by 
an  armed  British  galley  called  the  Revenge,  commanded 
by  a  certain  Joseph  Whayland."  Retaken  at  sea,  the 
prize  was  sent  Into  Philadelphia  In  August  and  the  case 
was  tried  before  a  Court  of  Admiralty  at  the  State 
House  on  September  17. 

Saturday,  November  30,  three  refugee  barges  from 
New  York  attacked  the  Maryland  State  galley  Pro- 
tector, which  was  taken  after  Its  commander.  Captain 
Whalley,  was  killed  and  sixty-five  out  of  his  seventy-five 
men  either  slain  or  wounded.  This  was  said  to  be  the 
most  bloody  conflict  during  the  war,  and  Is  mentioned 
in  RIvIngton's  New  York  Gazette  of  December  28. 

Early  In  March,  1783,  seven  or  eight  armed  barges, 
manned  principally  by  white  and  black  refugees,  were 
cruising  In  the  bay  In  quest  of  plunder  and  had  taken 
some  small  craft.  A  party  of  these  desperadoes  had 
landed  from  the  notorious  Joe  Whayland's  barge  and 
burned  the  dwelling-house  and  buildings  of  Mr.  Benja- 
min Mackall  on  the  Patuxent,  in  Calvert  County, 
Maryland;  the  loss  was  estimated  at  £3000.  After 
this  exploit  Whayland  was  reported  as  having  been  "in 
chase  of  his  own  father  who  has  arrived  here  (Phila- 
delphia) and  thinks  himself  fortunate  In  having  escaped 
the  horrid  fangs  of  his  graceless,  renegade  son." 

Both  Gaines  and  RIvIngton  mention  two  prize 
schooners  of  the  Victory  privateer.  Captain  Whayland 
(or  Wallen) ,  which  had  arrived  In  New  York  from  the 
Chesapeake  on  Sunday,  March  30,  1783.  What  was 
the  ultimate  fate  of  this  noted  refugee  I  fail  to  learn; 
probably,  judging  from  the  following  Information,  a 


short  shrift  and  a  long  rope.  A  Baltimore  letter  of 
August  24,  1784,  states  that  he  was  still  the  terror  of 
the  Chesapeake,  committing  daily  depredations  on  the 
coasting  vessels  and  murdering  or  plundering  their 
crews.  "We  are  informed,"  says  a  letter  of  the  times, ^^ 
"that  the  vessel  that  Whayland  employs  for  the  above 
infamous  purpose  is  a  topsail  schooner  with  black  sides 
and  bottom,  full  of  men,  and  draws  but  three  and  a  half 
feet  water.  He  has  also  several  boats  well  armed, 
so  that  it  is  dangerous  for  any  vessels  to  go  within  sight 
of  him.  How  long  this  fellow  may  reign  is  uncertain, 
as  there  is  no  armed  vessel  here  to  go  in  quest  of  him." 

Note  39,  Page  84 

With  the  sloop-of-war  Otter,  her  two  tenders,  and 
her  several  small  prizes  at  the  mouth  of  the  Patapsco 
River,  it  was  resolved  by  the  Baltimore  Committee 
on  Friday,  March  8,  1776,  that  the  trading  schooner 
Resolution,  Captain  William  Wand,  belonging  to  the 
firm  of  Lux  and  Bowley,  should  "in  the  present  emer- 
gency" be  fitted  out  as  a  tender  for  the  State  ship  De- 
fence, Captain  James  Nicholson.  She  was  to  carry 
eight  or  ten  3-pounders  and  a  crew  of  seventy  men,  and 
it  was  thought  she  could  be  got  ready  by  Sunday  morn- 
ing. Her  services  were  not  required  on  this  occasion, 
however,  as  on  the  9th  the  Otter  made  sail  down  the 
bay  and  Nicholson  returned  up  the  river  with  some  of 
the  prizes  which  had  been  abandoned.  The  names  of 
several  sailing  captains  had  been  proposed  as  officers 
for  the  tender  when,  on  April  26,  the  Committee  of 
Safety  directed  Captain  Nicholson  to  officer  the 
schooner,  which  then  had  a  crew  of  forty  men,  out  of 
his  own  ship.  Afterward,  September  12,  the  commit- 
tee was  empowered  by  the  State  Convention  to  sell  the 
Resolution,    but    some    three   weeks   later   they   were 

^*New  Jersey  Gazette,  September  13,  1784. 
1:1373 


directed  to  fit  out,  load,  and  send  her  on  a  voyage  at 
the  expense  and  risk  of  the  State.  Accordingly  the 
schooner  sailed  for  Martinique  about  December  9, 
1776,  with  a  cargo  of  tobacco,  flour,  and  breadstuffs, 
and  with  Captain  John  Carey  in  command. 

Note  40,  Page  86 

The  Santa  Margaretta,  a  Spanish  44-gun  prize  cap- 
tured off  Lisbon  in  1779  by  the  Tartar,  Captain  Fairfax, 
was  taken  into  commission  and  fitted  out  at  Sheerness, 
and  the  command  given  to  Captain  Elliot  Salter  early 
in  1 78 1.  She  carried  thirty-two  guns  and  220  men. 
During  the  summer  she  sent  some  prizes  into  Cork,  and 
sailing  thence  with  a  convoy  of  forty-two  sail,  reached 
New  York  October  7.  She  was  in  the  rear  division  of 
the  fleet  which  left  the  latter  port  on  October  19  for  the 
relief  of  General  Cornwallis,  and  returning  to  New 
York  she  continued  to  cruise  from  that  quarter  during 
the  following  year  (1782).  On  August  i  she  returned 
to  the  harbor  chased  by  six  French  men-of-war,  one  of 
them  an  84-gun  ship;  a  few  days  before,  after  a  long 
close  engagement  off  Cape  Henlopen,  she  had  taken  the 
frigate  UAmazone,  thirty-six  guns,  300  men,  but  was 
obliged  to  abandon  her  prize,  though  some  of  the  crew 
were  brought  in.  On  October  13  other  prizes  were  sent 
in,  one  of  them  the  Salem  privateer  Hendrick,  captured 
September  29  off  Bermuda.  On  her  return  from  her  last 
cruise  during  the  war  she  left  Port  Royal  Harbor, 
Jamaica,  March  26,  1783,  and  arrived  at  New  York 
April   14. 

Note  41,  Page  86 

Henry  Nicholls  commanded  in  the  West  Indies  the 
197-ton  cutter  Barracouta,  fourteen  guns,  twelve  swiv- 
els, sixty  men,  which  was  bought  in  1782  and  paid  off 
in  March,  1783.  Toward  the  close  of  the  year  he  was 
in  command  of  the  14-gun  cutter  Echo,  In  the  New- 
foundland Squadron  of  Vice-Admlral  John  Campbell. 

[138] 


Commissioned  a  captain  December  i,  1788,  he  com- 
manded in  1 79 1  the  Formidable,  ninety-eight  guns, 
flag-ship  of  the  Hon.  J.  L.  Gower,  rear-admiral  of  the 
White,  and  in  the  Royal  Sovereign,  iio  guns,  the 
flag-ship  of  Thomas  Graves,  Esq.,  admiral  of  the  Blue, 
he  was  in  the  fight  of  June  i,  1794,  off  Ushant,  and  was 
subsequently  presented  with  a  gold  medal. 

Note  42,  Page  88 

The  author  of  the  memoir,  having  returned  to  his 
Boston  home  in  the  spring  of  1783,  sailed  throughout 
the  summer  as  mate  of  a  brig  bound  for  Ocoa  on  the 
south  coast  of  Santo  Domingo.  As  he  did  not  like  the 
captain,  a  Frenchman,  he  remained  for  a  time 
on  the  island  and  returned  during  the  winter 
on  a  small  schooner.  After  working  for  a 
few  weeks  for  his  father,  a  young  friend,  Mr. 
Samuel  Richards  (who  had  served  an  apprentice- 
ship in  Edward  Tuckerman's  bakery  and  was  selling 
knickknacks,  gingerbread,  etc.,  in  the  town),  proposed 
that  if  he  should  buy  a  small  fishing  schooner  and  load 
her  with  a  cargo  of  Yankee  notions,  Greenwood  might 
navigate  her  down  to  Baltimore.  This  scheme  was  car- 
ried out.  At  Baltimore  his  former  employers  wanted 
him  to  take  the  command  of  a  new  brig  for  the  island 
of  Madeira,  but  at  the  earnest  entreaty  of  Richards  he 
declined  the  offer  and  helped  his  friend  barter  off  his 
precious  freight.  On  the  return  trip,  as  the  owner  de- 
clined to  pay  the  expense  of  a  pilot,  Greenwood  brought 
the  vessel  safely  through  the  Vineyard  Sound  on  a 
stormy  night  and  made  a  temporary  harbor  near  Cape 
Cod.  He  made  three  more  trading  trips  for  Mr.  Rich- 
ards, when  the  latter  sold  the  schooner  and  began  im- 
porting hardware  from  England. ^"^ 

^•"'  He  died,  a  rich  man,  at  Dedham,  in  August,  1844,  aged  eighty- 
seven. 


It  came  about  that  with  business  in  a  state  of  stagna- 
tion after  the  war,  Greenwood,  by  this  time  a  thorough- 
bred seaman,  could  no  longer  find  employment,  and  so, 
after  again  working  for  a  time  in  his  father's  shop  at 
the  turning  business,  he  set  out  for  New  York.  He 
traveled,  as  he  says,  with  a  light  heart;  in  his  pocket 
eight  dollars  which  he  had  saved  up,  and  in  his  kit,  with 
some  tools,  a  few  fifes,  drumsticks,  lemon  squeezers, 
and  hum-tops.  At  No.  24  Old  Slip  he  found  his  elder 
brother,  Isaac  Greenwood,  occupying  a  room  in  Mr. 
Robertson's  house  and  there  pursuing  his  father's  pro- 
fession. He  himself  procured  board  and  lodging  at 
twenty  shillings  a  week  with  a  Mr.  Lewis  Harrington, 
at  No.  199  Water  Street,  on  the  northeasterly  corner 
of  Wall  Street,  in  a  house  belonging  to  Mr.  Archibald 
Kennedy.  His  eight  dollars  he  lent  to  a  friend  to  keep 
him  from  jail,  and  then  tried,  unsuccessfully  however, 
to  get  to  sea  again.  Finally  he  hired  half  a  shop  in  the 
same  building  in  which  he  boarded  from  a  Mr.  J. 
Quincy,  instrument  maker,  and  helped  that  gentleman 
to  rub  up  and  repair  old  quadrants  and  compasses. 
He  also  made  some  hickory  walking-sticks,  and  these, 
as  the  streets  were  dangerous  after  nightfall,  found  a 
temporary  sale.  Altogether  he  earned  just  about 
enough  to  pay  his  expenses,  but  had  to  debar  himself, 
he  says,  of  a  pint  of  beer  when  the  day's  labor  was  over. 

After  a  while,  however,  he  bought  out  the  business 
of  Mr.  Quincy,  who  returned  to  Boston  or  Salem,  and 
as  his  brother  Isaac  ^®  had  by  this  time  left  New  York 
and  located  himself  in  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  John 
Greenwood,  at  the  instance  of  his  friend  Dr.  John 
Gamage,  also  took  up  the  profession  of  his  father  in 
Boston,  and  carried  it  on  in  connection  with  his  business 
of  a  turner  and  mathematical  instrument  maker.  He 
succeeded  so  well  that  he  soon  had  to  send  for  his  two 

^^  He  returned  to  the  city  in  1810,  after  the  death  of  his  brother 
Clark  Greenwood. 

[HO] 


younger  brothers,  Clark  and  William  P.  Greenwood, 
to  help  him. 

At  the  time  of  his  decease,  in  November,  1819,  Dr. 
John  Greenwood's  remains  were  laid  in  the  family  vault 
of  the  old  Brick  Church,  corner  of  Beekman  Street  and 
Chatham  (Park)  Row.  They  were  removed  later 
on  to  the  vault  in  the  Marble  Cemetery,  and  are  now 
at  rest  in  Greenwood  Cemetery. 


ChO 


Appendix  A,  Page  13 

Two  regiments  of  minute-men  were  organized  in 
Berkshire  County,  Massachusetts,  prior  to  the  outbreak 
of  the  American  Revolution.  Colonel  John  Patterson 
commanded  the  regiment  raised  in  the  northern  and 
central  parts  of  the  county,  with  Jeremiah  Cady,  of 
Gageborough  (afterward  Windsor),  as  major.  Pat- 
terson reached  Cambridge  before  May  14,  1775,  with 
five  companies  commanded  by  Captains  Samuel  Sloan, 
Nathan  Watkins,  Charles  Dibble,  David  Noble,  and 
Thomas  Williams.  Captain  Noble,  of  PIttsfield,  when 
his  company  enlisted  for  eight  months,  is  said  to  have 
sold  his  farm  lands,  armed  his  men,  and  put  them  into 
a  uniform  of  blue  coats  faced  with  white,  and  buckskin 
breeches.  A  young  doctor,  Timothy  Childs,  was  lieu- 
tenant in  this  company;  on  July  5  he  was  appointed 
surgeon  of  the  regiment  and  resigned  in  1777. 


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On  June  17,  the  day  of  the  Bunker  Hill  fight,  the 
company  of  Captain  Theodore  T.  Bliss  was  joined  to 
Colonel  Patterson's  regiment,  and  on  the  26th  the 
Massachusetts  Provincial  Congress  ordered  the  com- 
panies, if  they  were  about  full,  of  Captain  John  McKin- 

stry,  of  Spencer,  New  York,  and  Captain Porter, 

of  Becket,  to  join;  this  order,  however,  was  not  carried 
out  by  Porter.  Captain  Goodrich's  company  was  com- 
posed mostly  of  Stockbridge  Indians,  who  were  sent 
home  during  the  summer  by  General  Washington,  and 
in  September  the  captain  joined  Arnold's  expedition  to 
Quebec.  Lieutenant  Pixly  subsequently  attained  to  the 
rank  of  colonel  and  settled  on  Campbell's  Location, 
west  of  Owego.  In  the  Essex  Gazette,  August  17-24, 
1775,  Lemuel  Allen,  of  Ashford,  Connecticut,  wearing 
"a  blue  coat  with  buff  colour'd  Cuffs  and  Lapels,"  is 
advertised  as  a  deserter  from  Captain  William  Good- 
rich's company,  in  Colonel  Patterson's  regiment, 
Charlestown  Camp. 

Captain  John  McKinstry,  Jr.,  was  born  at  London- 
derry, New  Hampshire,  in  1745,  the  son  of  John 
McKinstry,  a  native  of  Armagh,  Ireland,  said  to  have 
been  a  captain  in  the  British  army.  The  son  served 
in  the  French  and  Indian  wars,  married  Elizabeth 
Knox,  of  Rumford  (or  Concord),  and  settled  in  Noble- 
town,^  a  tract  some  five  miles  square  in  the  southerly 
part  of  Hillsdale  Township  (Columbia  County,  New 
York),  a  section  which  later  on  came  west  of  the  divid- 
ing line  between  the  States  of  Massachusetts  and  New 
York.  Captain  (subsequently  Colonel)  McKinstry 
died  at  Livingston,  New  York,  in  1822;  his  son  George 
died  in  1866,  aged  ninety-four  years,  the  father  of 
Augustus  McKinstry,  of  Hudson,  New  York,  and  of 
Commodore  James  Paterson  McKinstry,  U.S.N. ,  who 
died  in  February,  1873,  aged  sixty-six  years. 

^  In  the  northern  part  of   Hillsdale  was  a  similar  tract  called 
Spencertown. 

1:1443 


In  the  "Massachusetts  Revolutionary  Rolls,"  Vol. 
LVI,  pp.  172-177^,  we  have  a  return,  dated  October 
6'  I775»  "of  the  names  and  places  of  residence  of  all 
the  Commissioned,  non-Commissioned  Officers  and  Sol- 
diers which  have  enlisted  in  the  26th  Regiment  of  Foot 
now  in  the  Continental  Service." 


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Captain  Wyman's  company  had  fifty-one  rank  and 
file,  the  majority  from  Uxbridge;  there  were  five  ser- 
geants, four  corporals,  two  drums,  and  two  fifes;  a 
private,  John  McGrath,  "residence  unknown,"  wounded 
June  17,  died  September  20,  1775,  was  the  only  cas- 
ualty in  the  regiment  on  the  day  of  the  Bunker  Hill 
fight.  In  Captain  Morse's  company  a  number  of  the 
men  were  from  Natick;  one  private,  James  Greenwood, 
was  from  Framingham.  Most  of  the  men  in  Captain 
Dibble's  company  were  from  Lenox.  Captain  Noble's 
men  were  from  Pittsfield  and  Richmont;  the  captain 
died  at  Crown  Point  in  July,  1776.  The  regiment 
numbered,  during  the  summer  of  1775,  over  600^  rank 
and  file,  counting  the  Indians,  etc.,  under  Captain 
Goodrich. 

An  advertisement  of  September  21,  1775,  in  the 
Essex  Gazette,  notes  the  desertion  of  William  Merry, 
of  Biddeford,  in  Saco,  a  private  in  "Captain  Theodore 
Bliss's  company,  in  Colonel  Patterson's  regiment,  in 
Charlestown  Camp,"  wearing  a  fustian  coat,  striped 
gingham  waistcoat,  and  a  pair  of  velvet  breeches. 

^  Of  this  number  over  thirty  were  on  command,  after  Septem- 
ber, in  Quebec,  nine  were  in  the  train,  eight  had  been  discharged, 
seven  had  deserted  and  one  returned,  and  five  had  died. 


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Thonnas  Wa  Iker's  house  (1903)  i  n  Montreal, 

where   Dr.  Franklin,  Carroll  and  Chase  lodped 

1  n   May,  1775. 


Appendix  B,  Page  97 

Colonel  Thomas  Walker^  (uncle  of  John  Green- 
wood) left  Canada  during  the  winter  of  1775-6  in 
order  to  prefer  certain  charges  against  General  Rich- 
ard Prescott  of  the  British  army,  then  a  prisoner  of 
war;  he  hoped  also  to  obtain  from  Congress  some  in- 
demnity for  the  loss  of  his  farm-house  and  potash  fac- 
tory at  L'Assomption.  Brigadier-General  Wooster's 
note  for  $400,  loaned  him  by  Walker  "for  the  use  of 
the  Army,"  was  taken  up  March  23,  1776,  and  paid  in 
specie,  and  on  the  28th  his  Memorial  was  presented  and 
ordered  to  lie  on  the  table.  His  grievances  are  amply 
set  forth  in  a  deposition,  sworn  to  in  Philadelphia  on 
April  24.  (Force's  "American  Archives,"  Series  4, 
Vol.  IV,  col.  1 175-9.) 

Mrs.  Thomas  Walker  and  Mrs.  James  Price  set  out 
from  Montreal  for  Philadelphia  May  11,  1776,  under 
the  escort  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Franklin,  one  of  the  three 
commissioners  who  had  been  appointed  by  Congress  for 
visiting  Canada  and  who  had  been  lodged  in  Walker's 
house.  "En  route"  between  Albany  and  New  York,  to 
insure  the  comfort  of  the  ladies,  the  doctor  accepted  the 
offer  of  General  Schuyler's  chariot.  Colonel  Walker 
and  his  wife  lived  subsequently  in  Boston  while  their 
children  remained  in  Canada,  though  Judge  James 
Walker  visited  his  Yankee  cousins  before  the  close  of 
the  century. 

The  Massachusetts  House  of  Representatives,  April 
27,  1777,  chose  Colonel  Thomas  Walker  and  Colonel 
Solomon  Lovell  to  serve  on  the  committee  of  Fortifica- 
tions, in  which  choice  the  Council  concurred.  Some 
years  later,  in  a  letter  of  December  8,  1784,  Walker's 
case  was  strongly  recommended  by  Samuel  Adams  to 

^  Chief  Justice  William  Hay  says  Walker  was  an  Englishman  by 
birth.  There  was  another  Thomas  Walker  who  died  in  Montreal 
August  29,  1768,  and  was  buried  on  the  30th. 


Richard  H.  Lee,  President  of  the  Congress  at  Trenton. 
At  the  time  of  the  colonel's  death,  which  took  place 
July  8,  1788,  aged  seventy  years,  a  well-deserved  trib- 
ute to  his  character  and  services  appeared  in  the  Massa- 
chusetts Centinel  (Vol.  IX,  No.  34).  His  widow,  to- 
gether with  Paul  D.  and  Daniel  Sargent,  gave  bonds 
on  his  (intestate)  estate. 

The  widow,  Martha  Walker,  under  Acts  of  Con- 
gress passed  April  7,  1798,  and  February  18,  1801,  for 
the  relief  of  the  refugees  from  Canada  and  Nova  Sco- 
tia during  the  Revolutionary  War,  became  entitled  to 
a  grant  for  2240  acres  of  land.  She  removed  ulti- 
mately to  Quebec  and,  living  there  with  her  daughter, 
Mrs.  Jane  Cox,  and  the  Woolseys,  died  about  1825, 
aged  over  ninety  years.  Her  portrait  was  in  the  pos- 
session of  her  grandson.  Captain  Edward  Cox,  of  King- 
sey,  Canada,  when  he  wrote  me  in  186 1.  A  letter  to 
Mr.  John  Greenwood,  of  New  York,  dated  Dedham, 
Massachusetts,  April,  18 16,  is  preserved,  in  which  his 
only  sister,  Mrs.  Mary  Gay,  says:  "If  you  go  to  Can- 
ada in  July,  pray  enquire  if  Madam  (Martha)  Walker 
is  still  alive;  she  is  Mother's  sister;  her  son  was  Judge 
(James)  Walker  of  Montreal, — he  is  dead.  Uncle 
(Robert)  Woolsey  lives  in  Quebeck." 

The  Petition  for  a  General  Assembly  from  the  Prov- 
ince of  Quebec  to  the  King  was  signed  in  January,  1774, 
by  Zach.  Macauly,  head  of  the  Quebec  Committee; 
Thomas  Walker,  head  of  the  Montreal  Committee; 
Robert  Woolsey,  Richard  Walker,  James  Price, 
Thomas  Walker,  Jr.,  and  others. 

CHILDREN 

I.  Thomas  Walker,  born  circa  175 1;  petitions, 
Quebec,  November  2,  1779,  for  license  to  practise  law 
in  any  of  the  Courts  of  Record  in  the  province;  peti- 
tions, Montreal,  June  12,  1780,  for  a  commission  of 


attorney-at-law.  When  In  the  fall  of  1787  inquiry  was 
made,  before  the  chief  justice,  into  the  conduct  of  the 
judges  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  both  at  Quebec 
and  Montreal,  the  brothers  Thomas  and  James  Walker 
were  among  those  examined.  He  married,  first,  a 
widow  whose  maiden  name  was  Sayres;  secondly,  in 
November,  1782,  at  Montreal,  Jane  Finlay,  probably  a 
daughter  of  Hugh  Finlay,  the  postmaster-general.  His 
only  daughter,  Louisa  Nash  Walker,  died,  single.  In 

1854. 

2.  James  Walker,  born  1756;  appointed  in  1794  a 
judge  of  the  King's  Bench,  district  of  Montreal.  He 
applied  for  a  grant  of  land  in  1793,  and  afterward  pur- 
chased the  seigniory  of  St.  Charles  on  the  Chambly. 
He  was  twice  married,  the  second  time  in  April,  1782, 
to  Margaret  Hughes,  daughter  of  Town  Major  James 
Hughes,  who  died  September  11,  1785,  aged  eighty- 
seven  years.  James  Walker  died  in  Montreal,  January 
31,  1800,  aged  forty-four  years,  and  was  interred  In  the 
old  Dorchester  Street  English  burylng-ground.  His 
widow,  on  petition,  received  an  annual  pension  of  f  120. 
He  left  three  daughters  : 

i.  Julian  Walker,  born  May  13,  baptized  May  15, 
1785,  In  Montreal;  married,  June,  1806,  James  Suther- 
land ;  married,  second,  December,  1 8 1 1 ,  Jean  M.  Mon- 
delet,  notary  and  member  of  Parliament,  who  died  In 
1840. 

il.  Amelia  Anne  Walker,  born  1787;  married  Cap- 
tain Samuel  Romilly,  of  the  Royal  Engineers;  died 
June,  1824,  and  was  buried  near  her  father. 

Hi.  Caroline  Walker;  married  Lieutenant  Thomas 
Marshall  Harris,  of  the  Royal  Staff  Corps,  etc.,  son  of 
Major-General  John  Harris,  R.A. 

3.  Alexander  Walker;  captain  In  the  7th  Royal 
Fusiliers,  March  3,  1780;  aide-de-camp  In  Canada  to 
Prince  Edward,  afterward  the  Duke  of  Kent,  colonel 
of  the  regiment;  resigned  about  1792  and  next  year 


applied  for  a  grant  of  land  in  Maddington  and  Hunters- 
town;  died  unmarried. 

4.  Anne  Walker;  brought  up  her  orphan  niece, 
Louisa  N.  Walker;  died,  single,  in  England,  1835. 

5.  Jane  Walker,  born  1764  or  1767;  educated  in 
England;  returning  during  the  war,  the  vessel  was 
brought,  a  prize,  into  Boston;  she  married,  1784,  at 
Quebec,  Lieutenant  (later  Lieutenant-Colonel)  Wil- 
liam Cox,  R.A.,  who  died  about  18 10;  she  died  in  Eng- 
land about  1848,  aged  eighty-four  years.  Lieutenant 
W.  Cox  is  called  by  General  Haldimand,  "son  of  the 
Governor  of  Gaspe,"  who  was  Captain  Nicholas  Cox, 
in  1753  of  the  47th  Foot,  and,  ten  years  later.  Equerry 
of  the  Duke  of  Gloucester;  he  died,  January  8,  1793, 
lieutenant-governor  of  Gaspe,  and  his  widow,  a  Miss 
Wickham,  of  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  received  an  an- 
nual pension  of  £100.  Governor  N.  Cox  was  a  grand- 
son of  Sir  Richard  Cox,  knighted  November  5,  1692, 
and  afterward  Baronet  Cox  of  Dummanway  and  Lord 
High  Chancellor  of  Ireland,  1703-7.  Jane  Walker 
left  three  children: 

i.  Frances  Cox;  married,  first,  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Hubert  de  Burgh,  of  the  Bengal  Cavalry;  second,  in 
1835,  Sir  Frederick  de  Abbott,  Knight,  of  the  Bengal 
Engineers,  knighted  1854,  and  living  1869,  aged  sixty- 
one  years,  a  retired  major-general  of  the  East  Indian 
Service,  at  Broom  Hall,  Shooter's  Hill,  Kent,  England. 

ii.     Cox;  married  Lieutenant-Colonel  Peter  J. 

Willats  of  the  48th  Foot. 

iii.  Edward  Cox;  entered  army  in  1804  as  an  en- 
sign; retired  about  1824,  when  captain  in  the  6th  Foot 
(or  1st  Warwickshire  Regiment)  ;  was  living,  1861,  at 
Kingsey  on  the  St.  Francis  River,  some  sixty-five  miles 
north  of  east  from  Montreal.    In  December,  1909,  two 

ladies,  Miss Cox  and  her  sister,  Mrs.  Ada  Austin, 

widow,  were  living  in  Montreal  at  No.  400  Sherbrooke 
Street,  the  last  of  Captain  Cox's  family.     Mrs.  Austin 


had  a  miniature  portrait  of  her  great-grandmother, 
Mrs.  Martha  (Tans)  Walker,  and  at  that  time  por- 
traits of  Colonel  Thomas  Walker  and  his  wife  were 
in  the  Museum  of  the  Chateau  Ramezay,  Notre  Dame 
Street,   Montreal. 


n'55] 


